ASKING ALEXANDRIA Guitarist Says Upcoming Album Has 'Raw Energy' Not Heard Since 'Reckless & Relentless'

ASKING ALEXANDRIA vocalist Denis Shaforostov and guitarist Ben Bruce were interviewed by Kerrang! magazine at the Vans Warped Tour U.K. date on October 18 at London’s Alexandra Palace. You can now watch the chat below.

Shaforostov, formerly of Ukrainian metalcore act MAKE ME FAMOUS, was confirmed as the new ASKING ALEXANDRIA singer back in May.

Speaking about ASKING ALEXANDRIA‘s forthcoming studio album, Bruce said: “After we spent the last two years writing for this record, a lot of that ended up getting scratched when Denis joined and we started again from scratch. And we finished the album now. We’re getting the final mixes back in over the next few weeks.

“I’m so excited to release it. There’s not been a raw energy or aggression to an ASKING ALEXANDRIA album since [2011’s] ‘Reckless & Relentless’, like this one presents. You turn it on, and you’re like, ‘Wow! They’re back.’ And I cannot wait to release it to the world and hear what everyone thinks.”

In a recent interview with BryanStars, Bruce stated about the upcoming ASKING ALEXANDRIA CD: “We’ve never gone into a studio thinking, ‘We wanna write this, this, this, this.’ We just always go in and write whatever feels right. I’ll sit down and just play, and whatever comes out, that’s what this album’s gonna sound like. But one thing that was a huge, huge difference — which was really refreshing — is Denis was really involved with the writing. He would critique me, he would give me ideas, he’d be, like, ‘I’ve heard you do better. Do better.’ And he really, really pushed me, whereas [former singer] Danny [Worsnop] would just kind of not do anything. I’d send him the songs and he’d be, like, ‘That’s shit. I don’t like it. It’s too heavy. And then, ‘If I have to do it, I’ll do it.’ So there wasn’t much interaction between me and Danny. But with Denis, he was very hands-on. He wasn’t in the country for a lot of it, so we did a lot of Facetime calls, a lot of texting, a lot of mobile calls and stuff. He was really involved, so I think that’s just made for a better and more well-rounded album, especially because he was a fan of the band before. So I’d send him something and he’d be, like, ‘Dude, I’ve heard you do better than this. This is not your best work,’ which was awesome. So I definitely think this is the best ASKING ALEXANDRIA record that we’ve ever written. I think old fans are gonna love it. I think new fans are gonna love it. I just don’t see how you can’t.”