“It’s one of those things that kind of came out of the blue for me. I just sort of got this call and it was a pleasant surprise.”

On Tuesday (Jan. 13), William DuVall joined Loudwire Nights to dive into how he ended up singing on Metal Allegiance’s new song, “Black Horizon,” their first new song in eight years.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“They sent the music and I really dug it,” he told Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.

“And then the challenge became what to say over this. That’s one of those pieces of music, it’s got a lot of shifts in mood and tone and pacing and all of that, so it kind of brought me back to my GTO days, you know, Giraffe Tongue Orchestra.”

Though he sat with it and spent time thinking through the lyrics, he shared that there were a couple things that were immediately clear.

“The title came to me almost instantly,” DuVall said.

“And then the concept, the narrative thread of that lyric, the kind of direction came instantly.”

From there, he needed to finish the rest of the song.

“[It was] trying to figure out each section and kind of making it, just trying to maximize each section,” he explained.

“The initial idea came rather quickly, but then fleshing it out took a bit of time. But I’m really pleased with the outcome.”

William DuVall Reflects on His 20 Years in Alice In Chains

When Chuck brought up the fact that 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of when DuVall first sang with Alice In Chains, the singer and guitarist seemed to be kind of floored by the passage of two decades.

“That’s a bit of time, isn’t it,” he said.

“In some ways, it seems like it’s been a few months and in other ways, it seems like it’s been 40 years. Time is strange like that. It’s like two minutes and then it’s also five lifetimes. And I don’t really know how to reconcile that.”

As he wrestled with the idea of 20 years passing by, DuVall was clear in his gratitude for what he and Alice In Chains have done.

“It makes so many people happy,” DuVall shared.

“I mean, it might sound corny or trite to say, but that’s actually something I don’t take lightly at all, that we’ve been able to go around and bring so much happiness and catharsis and maybe a sense of togetherness — letting people kind of feel a little less isolated in whatever they’re going through. That’s a huge honor to me that we’ve been able to do that for this long.”

Though he wasn’t speaking for his bandmates, he admitted this journey of Alice In Chains is something they’ll be thinking about for a long time.

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“In some ways, we’ll be kind of processing this whole thing for the rest of our lives,” he said.

“It’s been crazy, man. The tall order that it was, the fact that we filled it or had the gumption to say we were going to fill it. But here we are. I’m glad about it. I really am. I’m glad everybody’s still here. I’m glad the folks have stuck with us.”

What Else Did Alice In Chains’ William DuVall Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• The future of Alice In Chains’ music looks uncertain: “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll have to see, you know? We’ll get together at some point I’m sure and see what’s going on.”
• Being part of Back to the Beginning and paying tribute to Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne was “an amazing, unique experience.” He noted how many different eras were brought together on one stage without any showboating or ego — just fans enjoying music together.
• Working with Chained Saint: “I think at some point sooner than later, it’ll be time for us to get together again and see where they are. They’re in that early stage, blooming phase and they’re really trying to learn how to do this, how to be a band … This is a rapid growth period.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

William DuVall joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, Jan. 13; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.