[14] In August 2015, bassist Mike Inez said in an interview that Alice in Chains had been "throwing around riffs for a new record" and "taking it nice and slow.

[16] DuVall also talked about Alice in Chains' songwriting process and how it has evolved over the years: In January 2017, Mike Inez stated in an interview that the band had begun work on a new album.

[17] Speaking with Good Celebrity on May 1, 2017, guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell revealed that Alice in Chains would return to Studio X in Seattle to record a new album in the following month.

[19] In June 2017, Mike Inez revealed that the band was not signed to a label, having completed its previous two-record contract with the Universal Music Group.

[19] Inez also said that Alice in Chains is a global band, so it had to be a significant label that has the infrastructure to get the album in stores in places like Singapore or South America.

[2] The sessions were helmed by Nick Raskulinecz,[19][20] who produced the band's two previous albums, Black Gives Way to Blue (2009) and The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013).

"[21] During an appearance on the TV show Fantasy Live on September 19, 2017, Cantrell said that the band had been working all summer on writing some music and hopefully something would come out "next year".

[4] But Cantrell had to take an unexpected break from work after getting sick on a trip to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to celebrate Sammy Hagar's birthday.

[5] Gear-wise, Cantrell reported that he used "a lot of the old standard stuff", his G&L and Les Pauls guitars, and his signature Dave Friedman ‘Double J’ amp.

[4] A cigar box amp that Nick Raskulinecz bought at the Pike Place Market in Seattle was used on three or four songs with a baritone guitar.

[24] At the press room of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on April 14, 2018, Cantrell revealed that Alice in Chains had just signed with BMG, and that they had finished mixing their new album.

[10] The title track, "Rainier Fog", is a tribute to the Seattle music scene that launched bands such as Alice in Chains themselves, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees and Nirvana.

[10] The original demo for the title track was recorded at Cantrell's house in Los Angeles, with the help of Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, who also came from Seattle.

[10] Cantrell told Classic Rock magazine that the lyrics "Left me here so all alone, only for me to find/Hear your voice on waves we rode, echoes inside my mind/Disembodied just a trace of what it was like then/With you here we shared a space that's always half-empty" are about Layne Staley and Mike Starr.

[32] The album closes with the seven-minute track "All I Am", described by Rolling Stone as "a swirling hard-rock tune that takes a long look backward, with sweeping guitar and echoes of Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin.

[1] The album was released digitally, as well as on CD and limited-edition double 180-gram clear LP with white and black splatter available only from Alice in Chains' online store.

[40] One day ahead of the official release, the full album was played by Seattle radio station KISW along with an interview with the band.

[10] The cover art was revealed on June 27, 2018, and it features a black and white image of a triangle floating on the sea surrounded by fog.

[47] The lyrics "Left me here so all alone, only for me to find/Hear your voice on waves we rode, echoes inside my mind" from "Rainier Fog" are featured upside down on the front cover.

[45] The opening sequence of episode 10 of the web series Black Antenna, "All I Am",[51] showing Nil (played by Darri Ingolfsson) in a triangle with an eye in the middle was a reference to the cover of Rainier Fog.

[54] The baseball team Seattle Mariners hosted a special "Alice in Chains Night" at the Safeco Field in Seattle on August 20, 2018, to promote Rainier Fog, with the team offering the fans a package that included a Safeco Field terrace club ticket, access to a pre-game listening party of the album, an Alice in Chains t-shirt and a Rainier Fog CD.

[56] To mark the launch of the album, on August 21, 2018, Alice in Chains performed an acoustic set at the top of Seattle's Space Needle and debuted the song "Fly".

The museum featured rare Alice in Chains photos, limited-edition merchandise and memorabilia that showcased the band's 30+ year career.

[36] It features a psychedelic look with an opposing red and green color scheme with grainy visuals and cuts to tiny critters scurrying about while the band is performing.

[63] During an interview with Eddie Trunk on his radio show Trunk Nation on May 7, 2018, vocalists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall revealed that drummer Sean Kinney talked to director Adam Mason, who is making a dark sci-film, and they talked about doing two separate pieces of art and maybe molding them together, and that the music video for "The One You Know" is the first chapter of molding Mason's film and the band's music videos together.

[37] In June 2018, William DuVall said in an interview with Swedish website Rocksverige that the video for "The One You Know" is the first chapter of what the band is hoping will be visuals for all ten songs from the album Rainier Fog, and in addition to that, will be a companion piece to the film that director Adam Mason was shooting.

[69] Black Antenna was written by Adam Mason and Paul Sloan, with Alice in Chains acting as executive producers along with Jason Collins.

It tells the story of aliens father and daughter, Alpha (Sloan) and Beta (Dov), who drive across California in silence, speaking only telepathically.

[88] For Revolver magazine, Rainier Fog "delivers something for old and new fans alike, and leaves listeners with a feeling of great anticipation, and optimism, about what the future holds for the Seattle band.

Rainier Fog sees the band breathing new life into their signature sound, with a diverse and deeply emotional collection that history will surely view as a career-defining statement.