Asking Alexandria - Where Do We Go From Here
The more than 1.4 billion streams of Asking Alexandria’s catalog are a testament to the deep connection between the band and their dedicated audience. Roughly 15 years ago, the English rock crew lived in an R.V. in parking lots around the United States, surviving on Ramen noodles and cheap booze. The masters of arena-rock swagger and underground bombast now have Top 10 albums, four RIAA-certified GOLD singles, and their first Active Rock Radio No. 1 with 2021’s “Alone Again”.
Asking Alexandria offers reverence to touchstone icons like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Queen, with a relentless urgency harkening back to their early days as hard-partying Warped Tour upstarts. In 2023, longtime comrades Ben Bruce (lead guitar), Danny Worsnop (vocals), Cameron Liddell (guitar), Sam Bettley (bass), and James Cassells (drums) ride a creative high with their forthcoming eighth studio album kicked off by the immediate success of the arresting, catchy, and sober “Dark Void”.
“With the world seemingly getting darker and darker, it’s easy to see why so many of us struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness” Bruce says of the next album’s themes “We are all on our own journeys that present unique challenges, but we all have our own inner strength to fall back on”.
It’s the same spirit of relatable connectivity which endeared Asking Alexandria to a worldwide audience who cherish songs like “Alone in a Room”,“Moving On”, and last year’s Top 10 single “Never Gonna Learn” as deeply personal anthems of defiant perseverance and solidarity. These are songs sung in unison at major festivals, like Download (U.K.), Hellfest (France), Nova Rock (Austria), and American events like Aftershock, Louder Than Life, and Inkarceration, to name just a few.
Asking Alexandria established themselves as one of the most important rock bands of this generation through years of hard touring, supporting massive bands like Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown, Slipknot, Godsmack, and Korn; co-headlining with Nothing More and Black Veil Brides, and headlining multiple head-turning treks, breathlessly reported on in numerous magazine cover stories.
Each Asking Alexandria album is a vibrant chapter in the band’s ever-unfolding story, remaining true to themselves in spirit as they continually evolve in sound by leaps and bounds. The group’s debut, Stand Up and Scream (2009), is a metalcore classic. Reckless & Relentless (2011) upped the ante in melodic ambition and chaotic fury. From Death to Destiny (2013) shot to No. 1 on the Rock & Metal Albums chart in the U.K. and broke into the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 in the U.S. upon its release.
The Black (2016) debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums. The first two songs alone from the incredibly well-received Asking Alexandria (2019) boast more than 150 million Spotify streams between them. Distorted Sound Magazine called the incredible Like A House On Fire (2020), “catchy, outrageous, [and] honest.” In a 4/5 review, Kerrang! described Like A House On Fire as “an album that ebbs, flows, and branches into numerous shapes.”
Even as their creative ambitions continue to grow, that transcendent connection between the artist and the audience remains the essential lifeblood pumping through the heart of Asking Alexandria. From personal struggles to career highs and everything in between, this band truly understands.
“There is always light at the end of the tunnel,” says Bruce, who first conceived of Asking Alexandria as a teenager way back in 2008. “I feel that there can be comfort in knowing that we aren’t alone. We all feel a little lost from time to time, but somehow, in some way, we are all in this together. And hopefully our music can help people through some of their toughest times.”