Representations - Asking Alexandria

Asking Alexandria are a metalcore band from York and have a huge fanbase in England as well as many other countries they have toured.
They made a big impression in the 'metalcore' genre after touring the UK in 2008 and early 2009 when they recorded their first album 'Stand Up and Scream' at The Foundation Recording Studios in Indiana. After signing to 'Sumerian' record label they gained success in the United States after touring with some big bands.

Fan Base


The band have a large fan base in North America, UK and Europe with the average age most likely being 15-20 with both males and females being big fans. As the band have toured the world with other big metal bands they have played to a wide variety of cultures and races and therefore have become popular all over the world.

CD/DVD Images

Stand Up and Scream is Asking Alexandria's first album. The cover shows their iconic logo of their name in bold white at the top, standing out over the dark image below.
The imagine is of a microphone that is most likely used for live shows. It represents the genre and with the microphone on its own may mean the band are trying to stand out from the rest.

This second album cover is 'Reckless and Relentless.' The album title shows the attitude the band possibly have on life. Reckless meaning they don't care and do what they want and relentless meaning they will keep doing it for the enjoyment. The photo shows a woman sitting in a bleak room with an old television set smashed and completely ruined. The expression on her face is very relaxed and calm, as if she is used to this kind of situation and surrounding. Her outfit reminds me of a hooker or a lady that has been out partying too hard. This representation of women is quite negative from the bands point of view as it could hint that they see women as obects of pleasure and nothing else. The televsion set being smashed and the graffiti on the walls links back to the album title, suggesting they are reckless in their behavior and relentless in their motivation. Reckless & Relentless in an interview with Fallen Blue, Danny Warsnop said, "we wanted something shocking, so we had the famous porn actress, Belladonna, just sitting in The Dirty Room."

Music Videos

In this video of 'To The Stage' the video is full narrative which is quite unconventional for a metalcore video. It shows the band have been told their set for a live performance has been moved forward and so the band need to get together and get to the gig. Unfortunately the end up in a bar and one drink leads to another and Danny, the lead vocalist, ends up going upstairs with a woman, unknowingly having his drink spike and ends up having a fit and possibly dieing. The video is shot like a movie and features no performance what so ever, throughout the video the actual song plays but the narrative focuses on the band and ends with a cliffhanger.

 This screen shot shows that the band are big drinkers with not only beer being consumed but also whiskey. This representation of the band shows that they are enjoying their rock star lifestyle. It shows that being in a band means that they can afford to go to bars and spend alot of money on alcohol. It also shows a negative view as consuming large amounts of alcohol such as this is very damaging to your body but they obviously have no thought for this. Again linking to their album title 'Reckless and Relentless.'

Here this shows a woman in a bar, she is dressed in very little clothing and a lot of make up. She is a stereotypical woman that is looking for a man on a night out. In the video she ends up taking Danny from the band upstairs. It shows quite a negative view on women as here she is represented as someone that spends her time in a bar drinking alcohol and has sex with a man she doesn't know.

 In this screenshot it shows the woman, 'spiking' Danny's drink.The audience doesn't know what type of drug it is or what effect it will have if it is consumed. We can see that this woman is being represented in a very negative way as she is putting someone elses life in danger by putting a drug in their drink.

This screenshot shows Danny and the woman from the bar kissing. They have not met before and would not know each others name. This links to lyrics from one of their songs, 'Clothes trailing from the backdoor to the bedroom and I don't even know your name.' This representation shows that the band, especially Danny, see women as objects for pleasure and nothing else. The hand on her throat shows that this is a very lustful encounter and not passionate or full of love. It would be a 'one night stand' with no emotions. This shows that they probably have no real respect for women.



Lyrics deconstruction

Magazine Cover 

This magazine cover from Kerrang! Magazine shows Asking Alexandria when they were touring America. The slogan above states ''We're taking over America.'' This possibly shows that they are very confident in their ability and feel that they are winning over fans in America. You could say they are arrogant as they believe they are taking over the metalcore scene in another country as nomrally it is quite hard for an English metalcore band to break through and become popular in North America as even though they are from the same genre, the bands are quite different in musical stlye.
Danny, the frontman, also takes over the band photo, he appears dominant and masculine at the front and is the main focus over the other band members. His metal 'pose' could represent his masculinity and the love for the music and his lifestyle now they are a signed band.
It also states ''they're off their faces in Las Vegas.'' This links to the video of 'To The Stage.' The narrative had an american location and although it was never said where it actually was, we could imagine it to be Las Vegas, a city renowned for alcohol and women. 'Off their faces' represents the band in a way that shows they enjoy the lifestyle of consuming large amounts on alcohol and the company of women and their friends.