Overview: From Great to Bad.
Asking Alexandria are a metalcore band from England who's latest release is their 3rd full-length. Back in 2009 they released their debut Stand Up and Scream which defined what has become known as "risecore", "sumeriancore" and "crabcore" and spawned countless bands who imitated the album, Attack Attack!, Woe, is Me, I See Stars, to name a few. Looking back on the album it's incredibly generic but something about it still feels fresh and all of its imitators have yet to be able to do the album as well as Asking Alexandria did. Their sophomore album Reckless and Relentless was a change of pace stylistically that I hated at first but since 2011 it's grown on me a bit and while not as good as its predecessor it's a solid album. Which brings us to album number 3. The stylistic change is even more prevalent on this than before. I would bet that if you showed someone that's unfamiliar with the band a song from their debut and a song from this album, they would think it's 2 different bands. Danny Worsnop's vocals are unrecognizable. His screams are way less harsh and his cleans are worse, yet better because I think the band finally used his voice instead of using studio magic.
The Positive: The band is starting to find what they want their sound to be which is respectable. The opener "Don't Pray for Me" is a great opening track minus the obnoxious minute and a half barely audible electronic intro which would've been better off as it's own track so you can just skip it. The 2 singles, "The Death of Me" and "Run Free" are some of the strongest tracks on the album as they have catchy choruses and heavy verses. "White Line Fever" is one of my favorites on the album which a great chorus and for once on this album pretty good lyrics. "Moving On" is a completely cleanly sung song that I really enjoy, for me the band is 2 for 2 when it comes to cleanly sung songs(the other track being "Someone, Somewhere).
The Negative: As I said, the annoying intro to the opening track. "Killing You" is an abysmal track with an abysmal chorus. "Creature" flat out sucks and the band completely misuses Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage fame on the track "Until the End". The main issue with this album is the choruses, they're just not good. Outside of a few tracks the choruses really drag every song down instead of elevating and hooking you. Though I enjoy the songs I enjoy there's really nothing special at all about them, they're just solid songs.
Overall: It's an album that's just kind of there, there are good tracks, okay tracks and bad tracks. The band really seems to be trying to get away from the genre that they almost single-handedly created. There is nothing from Stand Up and Scream that is still with the band now, I think I counted 4 breakdowns, maybe. Now that the band is really finding the sound they want hopefully they'll put more into creating songs that are better and hopefully this album is a stepping stone in a discography that could be better. But, sadly as of now this album continues the downward trend of the band's releases. If you hated their debut, you may like this better, if you loved their debut, chances are you won't enjoy this nearly as much.
Number of Tracks Kept(Including Deluxe Edition): 7/14
Rating: 5/10
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