This is going to be a quickie review as I’m still ploughing through Bloodstock interviews, but wanted to get something up about this impressive release.
Asking Alexandria are a band I know of, but never really got into. No reason, other than so many other bands out there that they just kind of passed me by. I gave them a listen prior to their recent tour with Shinedown… and then missed the Glasgow date which I am forever going to regret! I did review their last album, but the aforementioned deluge of other music meant that it just didn’t get onto a setady rotation in Chez Mosh. The perils of being a popular music site.
The first thing you notice after a first listen is that this is a complex record, and very well produced. There is so much going on, so many layers. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, but I do think that it has its benefits in terms of encouraging multiple listens. Just wrap your ears aroud “Things Could Be Different”. Varying vocals, clean and harsh; chunky rhythm guitars; electronic backing sounds; thumping drums; rapid dancey beats splashed around. It’s… huge. And borderline messy… but just on the right side of that border.
Other tracks, such as the slightly lighter “Let Go” and the powerful “Nothing Left” (my pick from the album) are somewhat more mainstream, but even then there is a big use of atmospheric backing tracks. Angst-ridden vocals soar and flit between light and airy, and screamed from the depths of Danny Worsnop’s soul. The constant is the effort that has gone into making each track a huge soundscape. How the hell they’ll make some of there work live is beyond me – there is so much to them!
If you like what we do, consider joining us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
In the band’s own words, this is an attempt to bring all of the sounds they’ve ever played with into one place:
We worked really hard to incorporate every aspect of what our fans love about Asking Alexandria. We have taken elements from every single record we have ever written and pieced them all together to create one album.
– Ben Brace
The net result is an album that’s crammed with sounds that may be familiar to a long term fan, but also somewhat experimental. Sometimes the sounds clash a bit, or there are styles of which I’m not a fan. “Psycho” is particulary eclectic – it’s good bits are good, while simultaneously having sections I really can’t get into.
Honestly, Where Do We Go From Here? is one you have to listen to. That’s not to say it’s unmissible and you have to… it’s just that the only way to judge it is to do it yourself. Existing fans will find this as much a smörgåsbord of sounds as a newcomer. While using all their old sounds, the cramming of them together is what’s new here.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
Where Do We Go From Here? is out on August 25th
Header image by Danny Worsnop
Check out all the bands we review in 2023 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!
Asking Alexandria: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube
