Seattle's Screaming Trees have produced a new record. The break--actually four years, during which the band itself buried an entire album session--has been a good one, giving them distance from the hullabaloo that was their hometown scene a few years ago. Dust is densely layered throughout, as the band adds cello, sitar, ethnic percussion, mellotron, and other keyboards to Van and Gary Lee Conner's beefy, masterfully processed bass and guitars. Notably, the album sounds less like a succession of stabs at artistry than it does the logical, unified expansion of what is still a hard-rock center. Opening track Halo of Ashes," for instance, invites favorable comparison to the exotic drones of the Trees' predecessors from the Doors to Echo & the Bunnymen. Without suggesting an absurd appreciation for Vegas nightclub acts, singer Mark Lanegan has learned to harness his powerful baritone. Last year, he opened for Johnny Cash and pitched in on Twisted Willy, a Willie Nelson tribute; though it's not country, his voice's timelessness ("Sworn and Broken") makes those pairings appropriate. Deeply ingrained in this band are some of the most solemn moments in rock: Gary Lee Conner's nasty guitar on "Dime Western" is a ringer for a recurring "Jesus Christ Superstar" riff, while "Gospel Plow" opens with a melody reminiscent of the '70s nugget "Cherokee People." There's no song here as immediate as "Nearly Lost You," the Trees' contribution to the Singles soundtrack, or "Black Sun Morning" from 1989's "Buzz Factory." Still, Dust is a welcome rarity--a contemporary album that rewards repeated listens from beginning to end..

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