 Although Alice in Chains has been labeled grunge by the mainstream media , Jerry Cantrell identifies the band as primarily heavy metal . He told Guitar World in 1996 , " We 're a lot of different things ... I don 't quite know what the mixture is , but there 's definitely metal , blues , rock and roll , maybe a touch of punk . The metal part will never leave , and I never want it to " . The Edmonton Journal has stated , " Living and playing in Seattle might have got them the grunge tag , but they 've always pretty much been a classic metal band to the core . " Over the course of their career , the band 's sound has also been described as alternative metal , sludge metal , doom metal , drone rock , hard rock , and alternative rock . Regarding the band 's constant categorization by the media , Cantrell stated " When we first came out we were metal . Then we started being called alternative metal . Then grunge came out and then we were hard rock . And now , since we 've started doing this again I 've seen us listed as : hard rock , alternative , alternative metal and just straight metal . I walked into an HMV the other day to check out the placement and see what 's on and they 've got us relegated back into the metal section . Right back where we started ! " . According to Mike Inez , they were always the metal stepchildren of the Seattle scene . 
 Although Alice in Chains <a href='been_done' title='1'><mark>has</mark></a> been labeled grunge by the mainstream media , Jerry Cantrell <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>identifies</mark></a> the band as primarily heavy metal . He told Guitar World in 1996 , " We 're a lot of different things ... I don 't quite know what the mixture is , but <a href='dey_it' title='3'><mark>there</mark></a> 's definitely metal , blues , rock and roll , maybe a touch of punk . The metal part will never leave , and I never want it to " . The Edmonton Journal <a href='been_done' title='4'><mark>has</mark></a> stated , " Living and playing in Seattle might <a href='been_done' title='5'><mark>have</mark></a> got them the grunge tag , but they 've always pretty much been a classic metal band to the core . " Over the course of their career , the band <a href='null_genetive' title='6'><mark>'s</mark></a>sound <a href='been_done' title='7'><mark>has</mark></a> also been described as alternative metal , sludge metal , doom metal , drone rock , hard rock , and alternative rock . Regarding the band <a href='null_genetive' title='8'><mark>'s</mark></a>constant categorization by the media , Cantrell stated " When we first came out we <a href='uninflect' title='9'><mark>were</mark></a> metal . Then we started being called alternative metal . Then grunge came out and then we <a href='uninflect' title='10'><mark>were</mark></a> hard rock . And now , since we 've started doing this again I 've <a href='uninflect' title='11'><mark>seen</mark></a> us listed as : hard rock , alternative , alternative metal and just straight metal . I<a href='been_done' title='12'><mark></mark></a> walked into an HMV the other day to check out the placement and see what 's on and they 've got us relegated back into the metal section . Right back where we started ! " . According to Mike Inez , they <a href='uninflect' title='13'><mark>were</mark></a> always the metal stepchildren of the Seattle scene . 
Although Alice in Chains done been labeled grunge by the mainstream media , Jerry Cantrell identify the band as primarily heavy metal . He told Guitar World in 1996 , " We 're a lot of different things ... I don 't quite know wht da mixture is , but it 's definitely metal , blues , rock and roll , maybe a touch of punk . The metal part gon never leave , and I never want it to " . The Edmonton Journal done stated , " livin and playing in Seattle mite done got them the grunge tag , but they 've always pretty much been a classic metal band to the core . " ova the course of their career , tdaband  sound done also been described as alternative metal , sludge metal , doom metal , drone rock , hard rock , and alternative rock . Regarding the band  constant categorization by the media , Cantrell stated " When we first came outt we was metal . Then we started bein called alternative metal . Then grunge came out and then we was hard rock . And now , since we 've started doing this again I 've saw us listed as : hard rock , alternative , alternative metal and just straight metal . I been walked into an HMV the other day to checkouttt the placement and see wwht's on and they 've got us relegated bk into the metal section . ryte back where we started ! " . According to Mike Inez , they was always the metal stepchildren of the Seattle scene .