British rockers ASKING ALEXANDRIA will release their new album, "Like A House On Fire", on May 15 via Sumerian Records. The band's sixth full-length studio LP was once again recorded by producer Matt Good (HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, FROM FIRST TO LAST), who also helmed 2017's self-titled effort.
Asked by Detroit's WRIF radio station how it feels to be releasing an album during the coronavirus pandemic, guitarist Ben Bruce said (see video below): "It's tough. For starters, we were told by our distribution company to postpone the record because there's no physical product that's gonna be available. All the factories have slowed down or stopped production, so your first week is gonna be ruined… So we had a bit of a back-and-forth with them, and we told them we don't wanna postpone it. So eventually they gave in, and they said, 'Okay, fine. Release it.' So I'm not too sure what to expect. I don't think we're gonna have the best first week and chart as high as we could have done, but it's not really our concern. We just wanna share the new album with our fans and get it out there.
"The big bummer for me is that we wrote this album specifically with live concerts in mind," he continued. "We were, like, 'Okay, how is this gonna sound live?' Every single part of the record, we had live shows in mind and audiences and crowd participation and energy. So now that that's been taken away from us, it's a little bit gutting — we're pretty upset about that. But, as we all know, it's only postponed — nothing's been canceled, the world's not ending, so we'll get to go out on tour. As soon as we're told we're allowed, we'll be out there."
"Like A House On Fire" was recorded throughout 2019 in between a high-profile arena tour supporting SHINEDOWN and a direct support slot on the road with PAPA ROACH. The intermittent sessions allowed ASKING ALEXANDRIA to tap into the energy of touring, resulting in a 15-track opus of massive, arena-filling rock songs.
