Two years ago, Alice in Chains emerged from a 14-year hiatus — and the death of original vocalist Layne Staley — with ‘Black Gives Way to Blue.’ The band is already assembling its next album — and according to Heart vocalist Ann Wilson, they’re playing at the top of their game.

“I saw those guys just yesterday,” Wilson said in a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. “I went over to visit them in the studio where they were working on some new stuff — they sound amazing! How can Jerry [Cantrell] not sound amazing, but I mean, it really does — they’re a monster.”

In the interview, Wilson also reflected on the time she joined the original Alice in Chains lineup to add some vocals to their 1992 EP, ‘Sap.’ “It was like crossing over some kind of taboo line, you know, because we were considered to be an ’80s band, but we weren’t — we were really just a band. I’m just the singer, I can go anywhere and sing,” she said. “I didn’t really learn the song, I just went there and they said ‘Well, let’s try this.’”

Heart’s most recent release, 2010′s ‘Red Velvet Car,’ debuted in the Billboard top 10. Their current tour, which finds them co-headlining with Def Leppard, has dates scheduled through the end of October.

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