Much like the proverbial bus, you wait ages for an Alice In Chains gig and then you get two in quick succession.

Last November the veteran grunge act rocked the Barras to its foundations, and less than a year later they’re back to fit in an Academy appearance next Monday night.

But considering their history, and years of inactivity, Glasgow’s gig-goers should just be delighted that Jerry Cantrell and company have returned at all.

After frontman Layne Staley’s tragic death in 2002, it seemed like the band, who’d already been out of action for years due to Staley’s battles with drug addiction, were officially defunct.

Several years later, they’re not only touring, but basking in the acclaim from last year’s successful Black Gives Way To Blue record, a collection of songs that, while not the greatest the band have put together, was still a fine piece of work.

Perhaps key to the process was new vocalist William DuVall, the singer who stepped into the huge shoes left behind by Staley.

He’d previously worked with guitarist Jerry Cantrell on some of Cantrell’s other projects, and that eventually led to being offered the slot as the group’s new frontman , after they’d played with several different singers when Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney first started playing shows again.

Cantrell certainly believes that DuVall fits into the four-piece perfectly. In an interview earlier this year, he stated that “He’s a really talented guy and the way that we work together vocally, it’s a complete team. That’s the way things were with Layne and I. Obviously it’s a different situation and they’re two different people. But the blueprint is very similar.”

That shared vocal system can be heard throughout Black Gives Way To Blue, and calls to mind the similar dynamic that was heard on their three seminal 90s records.

Bringing in a new singer, and simply putting the group back out on the road, was obviously a difficult decision. Cynics might suggest it was purely to cash in on the name, or an attempt to recapture their fame.

But that’s an unfair judgement. Cantrell’s own career may not have set the charts on fire, but he was a critically established and popular act, and has also dabbled in acting, while he worked with Ozzy Osbourne on the Prince of Darkness 2005 album Under Cover.

Perhaps Cantrell, who founded the band back in 1986, is just happier working within a band environment. And the 43-year-old Los Angeles native did co-write nearly every song the band have ever recorded, so he’s justified in bringing the group together again.

That early 90s run of material may have initially marked them as a grunge act, but there was always much more to Alice In Chains than that. There was the skilled harmony vocals, the way they slid acoustic ideas into place, and their obvious debt to heavy metal.

In an interview earlier this year with Clash magazine, Cantrell admitted his frustration at the grunge tag, saying “The frustrating part is getting tagged with a word. It’s just kind of a drag. We were just playing rock’n’roll.”

It all made for a pulsating package that first came to mainstream attention when 1990’s Facelift was released, with singles Man In The Box and Sea of Sorrow giving the group their first hits, and paving the way for alternative rock to cross over to bigger audiences.

By the time the band released their second album, Dirt, in September 1992, they were already undergoing problems due to drugs. Staley’s problems with heroin had already led to one stint in rehab. The rest of the band were suffering from their own difficulties, and Cantrell was going through a period of depression.

It’s therefore unsurprising that Dirt is full of dark, angry themes, from drugs to depression and war. Bleak though the lyrics are, it’s still a powerful record, and proved to be their biggest-selling album.

A self-titled third record followed in 1995, again against a backdrop of drug problems, and that proved to be the last full-length album the band released in 14 years. Staley’s problems continued to grow, and led to a period of inactivity as the singer became a virtual recluse.

Cantrell popped up in Jerry Maguire, and recorded his first solo album, Boggy Depot. By the time of his second solo record, Degradation Trip, he was still insisting that the group could yet record new material.

But on April 20 2002 Staley was tragically found in his home, having passed away from an overdose of heroin and cocaine.

However, the remaining trio did play together again in 2005, for a benefit concert in Seattle for victims of the tsunami in South Asia. A further show, this time featuring DuVall on vocals, followed and eventually the official reunion was confirmed.

Sine then, they’ve toured prolifically, and Cantrell is already talking about plans for a fifth album in the near future.

As for what songs they’ll roll out on Monday night, the band are known for varying their sets around, but it seems likely that tracks like Them Bones, Would, Check My Brain and, of course, Rooster will be present.

Whatever they play, it’s good to have them back.

• Alice In Chains, O2 Academy, Monday, £23:50, 7pm.