Asking Alexandria is a metalcore band originally from North Yorkshire, England! The band today consists of Denis Stoff as the vocalist, Ben Bruce on lead guitar, Sam Bentley on bass, Cameron Liddel on rhythm guitar, and James Cassells on drums. But, the original lineup started a bit different, and Denis is actually a brand new edition to the band. Back in 2008, the band was formed by Ben Bruce, who brought in Danny Worsnop as the vocalist, Joe Lancaster on bass, James and Cameron in their current roles, and a man named Ryan Binns for keyboard. Ryan left in 2009 to join a band called With One Last Breath, and then Sam joined. The lineup remained to be just Danny, Ben, Sam, James and Cameron until 2015, when Danny left to focus on We Are Harlot full time. We'll get into that, but first let's talk about what Asking Alexandria has done so far. FIrst off, where did the name Asking Alexandria come from? There's a running joke on the internet that goes, "Who's Alexandria and why are we always asking her things?" When asked about it, Ben Bruce said this, "Most bands have a pretty shit band name, so I just came up with something. I came up with Alexandria as a human name, because people relate to humans." To this day, there's no answer on why 'Asking' was thrown in, but we assume its because it had a nice ring to it. In Spring 2009, Asking Alexandria began recording their first album, Stand Up And Scream and got signed to Summerain Records. The album was then released on September 15, 2009, and just barely broke the Billboard 200. It only hit 170 but on that chart, but alternatively it reached 29 on the Top Independent Albums, and number 5 on the Top Heatseekers chart. It stayed in the Top Heatseakers chart until July of the following year, actually. The album features a couple of the biggest Asking Alexandria songs to ever be released. Those are, "The Final Episode (Let's Change The Channel)" and "Not The American Average." This album also sent them out on their first US tour, with Evergreen Terrace, For The Fallen Dreams and Unholy. Success was also beginning to rise for AA, and then they came out with their second album, Reckless & Relentless. The album was released on April 5, 2011, which makes today (the day this biography was written) the album's fifth birthday! They began recording it in June 2010, and the album reached as high as number 2 on US charts. That was on the US Hard Rock Albums, and it also number four on the Rock Albums, and number 9 on the Billboard 200. It also charted at number 9 in the UK and 30 in Australia. This album spurred two more very popular Asking Alexandria songs, which are "Breathless" and "Someone, Somewhere." "Someone, Somewhere" actually was re-released as a special acoustic version featuring Ben Bruce as the primary singer on a bonus iTunes edition of their next album, From Death To Destiny. Just before the release of From Death To Destiny, Asking Alexandria set out on the 2012 Outbreak tour. Near the end of the tour, in December, Danny actually tore a vocal cord, and was put on vocal rest. He actually did continue on for a bit before seeing a doctor, but something like that is not to be messed with. After performing at a memorial concert for Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence, Danny went to a doctor and was put on the vocal rest previously mentioned. Surprisingly, he managed to fully recovery without surgery by January 2013. From Death To Destiny was already mostly recorded by the time all of this happened, and they released the technical first single for the album, "Run Free" on December 4, 2012. It sort of felt like a one off single, because it was so long between that and the announcement for the album. he album wasn't announced until late March-ish, and wasn't going to be released until August 6, 2013. The song that's actually thought to be the first single from the album is "The Death Of Me." This was actually the final album to feature Danny Worsnop as the singer. Danny announced his departure from the band in January 2015, after doing some extensive touring over the course of 2014. He actually had started We Are Harlot in 2014, and released one song, which was "Denial", but that was it until the departure was announced. Danny did leave on good terms, just wanting to make different music, and Ben announced that there would be a new singer soon. Then in May of 2015, they announced that Denis Stoff would be the new singer, and revealed him with a new song called "I Won't Give in." Denis had previously been in two metalcore bands from the Ukraine, Make Me Famous and Down & Dirty. Many people said that Make Me Famous was "ripping off Asking Alexandria", but they actually were just very similar. When Ben was asked if he had considered anyone else, he said it ha to be Denis. Frankly, after hearing their new album, The Black, we definitely agree it was a good fit. Many people at first actually did not like Denis, but due to the fact that the album has hit number one here in the US on two separate charts, clearly some minds were changed. They originally planned to perform with Denis for the first time at Manchester Academy 3 in late May 2015, but he could not get his work visa secured and had to cancel. They finally did get to perform with him, and went on to perform at Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals in Germany and then the 2015 Vans Warped tour. While on tour in Europe in October, they announced that they would be releasing an album in early 2016. Then finally, The Black was released on March 25, 2016 and is taking the world by storm right now! It hit number one on the Top Hard Rock Music Albums, and Recorded Label Independent Albums here in the US, and did extremely well everywhere else! We're actually loving the album right now, and if you haven't heard it yet, well we recommend you do! We have written a review for it, along with every other Asking Alexandria! If you're interested in reading about any of their albums, all of the reviews are linked at the bottom of this post. We also encourage you to go on over to Asking Alexandria's official website. Over there you will find a bunch of new music, along with a ton of tour dates! In just a couple of days, they will begin a tour that's primarily in Australia and then will move on to perform at many festivals here in the US and do the second leg of the British Invasion tour with Bullet For My Valentine. The Festivals include Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On The Range, and the Chicago Open Air Festival! Stand Up And Scream -Reckless & Relentless -From Death To Destiny -The Black
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