Asking Alexandria - Reckless and Relentless

Asking Alexandria is a metalcore band from York, England that actually has a somewhat decent sound, and a horrible fanbase. Those who listened to their first album, Stand Up and Scream, know what Asking Alexandria is all about. Danny Worsnop is (I must admit) a beast on vocals. His screams have impressive range—lows are nasty and gravelly, and highs are similar to those found in deathcore. When he sings, things tend to go downhill, but it could be worse. Now, the instruments…while I’m not saying AA is terrible, they could put a bit more effort into songwriting then just throwing in random breakdowns between the intervals of clean lyrics.


Now, while Reckless and Relentless has its flaws, it’s an overall improvement over Stand Up and Scream in almost every way. The breakdowns are more creative, vocals have improved and believe it if you can, the album actually has some nice hooks. However, the album’s feeling is the same. The whole effort comes off as Stand Up and Scream 2.0 in the way that they are better, but not different, and there are no new elements in their music. Danny Worsnop said in an interview this album was “influenced by 80’s hard rock,” as he didn’t listen to most modern bands. 

Reckless and Relentless is straight-up metalcore with electronica/trance influences that the lead singer and programmer manages to imbue their music with. This can be done well, such as in “Dear Insanity,” “Lesson Never Learned” and “Breathless.” But sometimes the metal just stops and a completely random trance moment will begin, such as in “Closure” and “The Match.”