Behind the Band: Asking Alexandria

Asking Alexandria are a British rock band from York, North Yorkshire, consisting of guitarists Ben Bruce and Cameron Liddell, drummer James Cassells, lead vocalist Danny Worsnop, and bassist Sam Bettley.

Initially formed in 2006 by Ben Bruce, the band officially established as a six-piece in 2008 with the founding line-up consisting of Bruce, Worsnop, Cassells, Liddell, Joe Lancaster and Ryan Binns. After the departure of Lancaster and Binns, as well as the recruitment of bassist Sam Bettley in 2009, the band released their debut album Stand Up and Scream (2009). The band released two studio albums Reckless & Relentless (2011) and From Death to Destiny (2013), before the departure of Worsnop in January 2015. He was replaced by Denis Stoff and the band released The Black (2016). Stoff departed from the band in October that year, and Worsnop subsequently returned to the band. The band released their self-titled fifth album in late 2017, which was a marked stylistic departure from their previous works. Their recent sixth studio album, Like a House on Fire, which was released on 15 May 2020, shows the group’s continuity of a more straight forward and melodic hard rock sound, while also shift into different genres.

The band’s music has mostly been described as metalcore, but has also been labelled post-hardcore, screamo, hard rock, and heavy metal. Additionally, it was also sometimes described as electronicore on their early work. Their first two Sumerian albums, 2009’s Stand Up and Scream and 2011’s Reckless & Relentless, are both generally considered to be metalcore albums, while their fourth album, 2013’s From Death to Destiny, is influenced by heavy metal and rock bands while maintaining Asking Alexandria’s signature metalcore sound on certain tracks. Guitarist Ben Bruce has stated that they do not like writing music that sounds the same from album to album, which is why their musical style has changed over time.

On 4 March, the band announced their upcoming sixth studio album titled Like a House on Fire set for release on 15 May 2020. At the same day, the band released the third single of the album titled “Antisocialist” and its corresponding music video. On 15 April, the band released the fourth single “Down to Hell” alongside an accompanying lyric video. On 11 May, four days before the album release, the band released their fifth single “House on Fire”.

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