ASKING ALEXANDRIA To Release 'The Black' Album In March; Cover Artwork Unveiled

ASKING ALEXANDRIA will release its new album, "The Black", in March via Sumerian Records. The cover artwork for the CD can be seen below.

"The Black" is the first ASKING ALEXANDRIA album to feature vocalist Denis Shaforostov, formerly of Ukrainian metalcore act MAKE ME FAMOUS, following the departure of Danny Worsnop in January.

Speaking about ASKING ALEXANDRIA's forthcoming studio album, guitarist Ben Bruce told Kerrang! magazine: "After we spent the last two years writing for this record, a lot of that ended up getting scratched when Denis joined and we started again from scratch."

He continued: I'm so excited to release it. There's not been a raw energy or aggression to an ASKING ALEXANDRIA album since [2011's] 'Reckless & Relentless', like this one presents. You turn it on, and you're like, 'Wow! They're back.' And I cannot wait to release it to the world and hear what everyone thinks."

Regarding the songwriting process for ASKING ALEXANDRIA's new album, Bruce told BryanStars: "We've never gone into a studio thinking, 'We wanna write this, this, this, this.' We just always go in and write whatever feels right. I'll sit down and just play, and whatever comes out, that's what this album's gonna sound like. But one thing that was a huge, huge difference — which was really refreshing — is Denis was really involved with the writing. He would critique me, he would give me ideas, he'd be, like, 'I've heard you do better. Do better.' And he really, really pushed me, whereas Danny would just kind of not do anything. I'd send him the songs and he'd be, like, 'That's shit. I don't like it. It's too heavy. And then, 'If I have to do it, I'll do it.' So there wasn't much interaction between me and Danny. But with Denis, he was very hands-on. He wasn't in the country for a lot of it, so we did a lot of FaceTime calls, a lot of texting, a lot of mobile calls and stuff. He was really involved, so I think that's just made for a better and more well-rounded album, especially because he was a fan of the band before. So I'd send him something and he'd be, like, 'Dude, I've heard you do better than this. This is not your best work,' which was awesome. So I definitely think this is the best ASKING ALEXANDRIA record that we've ever written. I think old fans are gonna love it. I think new fans are gonna love it. I just don't see how you can't."

So far, two singles have been released from "The Black" — "I Won't Give In" and "Undivided" — both of which can be streamed below.