A short audio snippet of a new ALICE IN CHAINS song called "Hollow" can be streamed on Amazon.com.

ALICE IN CHAINS will premiere "Hollow" in its entirety on December 18 — but wants fans to take part in the lead-up to the track's debut. The group is encouraging fans to follow them on Instagram, where they're posting lyrical phrases from the song. Fans are being asked to share photos they've taken or created that are inspired by the lyrics. Once December 18 rolls around, fans will be able to hear the song on the ALICE IN CHAINS web site and view the photos that the word inspired.

Fans can submit their photos through either Instagram or Twitter.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell recently confirmed to Guitar World that the band had finished recording its fifth studio album and second without original vocalist Layne Staley.

The new disc will follow up 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue", which ended a 14-year gap between studio efforts for the group and featured singer/guitarist William DuVall.

DuVall told The Pulse Of Radio while the band was touring behind that album that he was seeing a new generation of ALICE fans at the shows. "There's a lot of young people showing up, so that this thing has become a generational band now," he said. "So you've got people, 15, 16, 17 years old, that are coming of their own volition. I mean, they're not being brought there by their parents or anything. They're coming on their own. They're bringing their friends. So that's one thing that's a real sign that perhaps you're onto something."
ALICE IN CHAINS began working on new material in 2011, but the sessions for the album were delayed when Cantrell had to undergo shoulder surgery.

Although no official release date has been confirmed yet for the new album, it is likely that the disc will make its debut in early 2013.