Liverpool Sound and Vision * * *
With a crack of wandering displaced electricity, the imagined smell of discharged cordite hanging sheepishly in the air and the heavy anticipation flowing through the veins, the sound of Asking Alexandria’s latest album, From Death To Destiny, cautiously makes its way through the wires and detonates with a force of neutron star fading and its potency being slightly smothered with a well-used pillow.
From Death To Destiny is a strange concoction, its aims laudable, the sound honest and at times worthy of nodding your head and straining the sinews of your neck as you keep up with the tantalising beat. At other points it feels more like banging your head against a rather sturdy wall that will never budge, there will only be one casualty in the end.
Riding on the coat tails of creativity is one thing but when innovation is crossed with nihilism and the pleasure-seeking within the same context. It can send out worrying and disturbed mixed messages, regardless of how the album was written and under what circumstances, it just feels slightly askew and out of phase within its own structure. The good parts, the moments of sheer genius are worthy of exploring deeply, like throwing yourself into the arms of a lover who will never hurt you. The others fragments are similar to the moment of realisation that they have taken your clothes, your life savings and for good measure that 40 year old bottle Balvenie you have been saving for yourself.
In a mish-mash of confusion that is From Death To Destiny, tracks that stand out against the ensuing tide of Metal mayhem should be celebrated for what they are; decent and radiating. Break Down The Walls, The Death Of Me, Creature, Poison and the pleasurable Believe will go down well live, for the rest, the delete button might be looming closer to put the suffering of other tracks aside.
Although the album won’t be considered a classic of 2013 or even of the 21st Century, in parts it is still is a heartening listen and a timely reminder that the U.K. still has much to offer in terms of the Heavy Metal genre when done with exuberance and a big dollop of pride and whilst the days of top dog remain firmly in the camp of the continental Europe, with the huge exception of Black Sabbath, for Heavy Metal album of the year, it is an sign that there is still life, albeit a little brief throughout, in the British fire.
Ian D. Hall