asking alexandria

Asking Alexandria’s Cameron Liddell (left) and Ben Bruce each stake out their own sonic territory when performing onstage. “After all the years of writing and playing with each other,” says Bruce, “it’s all unspoken.”
Photo by Jonathan Weiner

To channel their metalcore angst, the guitarists divvy up 6-string duties onstage and in the studio.

“I pictured myself screaming and punching the shit out of a brick wall as hard as I could,” says Ben Bruce, lead guitarist and chief songwriter for British metalcore kings Asking Alexandria, describing his state of mind while recording the punishing guitar sounds on “Let It Sleep,” just one of the cauterizing songs on the band’s just-released new album, The Black. “I definitely channeled a lot of angst and misery into my playing on this stuff, that’s for sure.”

Screaming and punching might also describe Bruce’s mindset during much of the past couple of years. In early 2015, Asking Alexandria’s singer, Danny Worsnop, quit the band after a period of protracted acrimony. If that weren’t enough, Bruce’s friend and guitar tech, Chris Holley, died suddenly after developing a blood clot on a flight. And there’s more: Bruce’s wife, Samantha Cassaro, fed up with her husband’s drinking and demanding tour schedule, filed for divorce. “It was the hardest time of my life,” Bruce notes thoughtfully. “But if you’re an honest songwriter, that kind of turmoil is going to come out in your music.”

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