I was excited for the 25th of March since probably the beginning of December. When the date finally came and went though, I was busy dealing with life and my demons and I didn’t care about the music that came out that day unfortunately! It was a bittersweet feeling but days later I snapped out of it and finally listened to “The Black” by a band that I’ve only recently been listening to called Asking Alexandria!
The album starts off with “Let It Sleep” and I’ve been loving this track a lot! So happy that Shannon Gunz from Sirius XM Octane has been playing the shit out of this one and the next like crazy! It’s very heavy and dark, but has a good steady medley. Everything works well together! I’ve done a review on their music video and track “The Black” earlier in February but now I finally get to do this and I’m actually kind of excited! If you read my previous album reviews before you know I don’t include the song I’ve already talked about so if you want to know what I thought about track number two, click here. Third is called “I Won’t Give In” and this was the song that basically turned me like oh my god! Everytime I hear it, it builds me up so strongly and I actually believe in both the lyrics and myself that I’m not going to give up and lately I’ve been needing that kind of self-esteem!
Fourth track is called “Sometimes It Ends” and it starts off with Ben Bruce explaining a conversation he had with new vocalist of the band, Denis Stoff about the writing of the new album and how he talked him out of making it about original singer Danny Worsnop. When the actual song starts, you can’t exactly hear what Denis is saying, one of the bad things about using harsh vocals of screaming and growls at the beginning will do to a track like this, but you can still hear the message behind them though.Sometimes things do end but you will get through it. At the end of it, it goes back to Ben talking about how grateful he is about how he’s still able to go out and play music. He also thanked Denis for talking him out of making the record mainly about Danny which everybody sort of thought it would be about him. I didn’t.
The next song is called “The Lost Souls” and I really like this one, it actually might become a favorite of mine! It starts off very soft and a little mysterious but quickly builds and becomes very powerful music wise! The vocals are a little off for me, but I don’t know why because it all goes together very well! I do love the orchestra in the background in the choruses, gives it a nice soft edge to it! Sixth track is “Just A Slave To Rock ‘n Roll” and at first, I thought I would like it and then I heard it and was totally wrong. Everybody has their differences between what sounds like rock or heavy metal and this does not sound like a rock ‘n roll. Now it could be a metaphor of the rock ‘n roll lifestyle now that I think about it, that seems more fair to say whenever I listen to it. Number seven is a song that is very light, not exactly a ballad but still good though! The song is “Send Me Home” and it’s very uplifting and it’s beautiful!
Next up is “We’ll Be OK” and we’re back on the heavy train and it’s very ominous with the soft introduction and low vocals. It’s a good song. I just need to listen to it a few more times and see what happens, because right now I don’t exactly like it. The band’s most recent single that was released like a week before the album came out was “Here I Am” and it’s another slow one. I’ve been ignoring it because I’m not into the softer songs like I wish I was! Number ten is a song called “Gone” and even though the last two were pretty slow and easy going, this is what I call a ballad and it is gorgeous! Piano, orchestra, and Ben’s voice. Second to last is “Undivided” and it sounds a little alternative as I hear some electronic sounds in the intro. I like the meaning of it a lot, this song in general is pretty badass! I actually want this one to become a single! The last one is “Circled By The Wolves” and this gives me the same vibes “We’ll Be OK” there’s nothing that really makes it special, it just sounds like a regular, fuck you rock song. I don’t have a problem with those kinds of songs but I do like for them to sound different from the rest!
I was actually surprised with this album, it was good but not what I expected though. It had a lot of heavier songs which is what everybody was looking for while waiting for it to be released. It’s also not about Danny, which I’m even more happier about because that was another concern to the older fans who have been listening to them for years. There’s nothing about this album that is “bad” it’s just some songs weren’t a favorite of mine. I’d still buy the album though!
What do you think of “The Black”? What are your favorite tracks and maybe not so favorites?
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