Album/EP

Asking Alexandria - Never Gonna Learn (EP Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Jan 20, 2022

7 min read

Asking Alexandria - Never Gonna Learn EP
Released: January 21, 2022

Lineup:

Danny Worsnop // vocals
Ben Bruce // vocals, lead guitar
Cameron Liddel // rhythm guitar
Sam Bettley // bass
James Cassells // drums

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What's this? Another Asking Alexandria release? Kind of. While the band did only released their seventh album, See What's On the Inside less than six months ago (our review here), they're still very much thriving in this newfound version of themselves. Since releasing that record back in October, it does feel like more fans are coming to terms with the fact that this is who they are now, and the boys have come up with an exclusive release to give their thanks to the fans that contnue to stick by them to this day. 'Never Gonna Learn' is not only the band's latest single, but it is in fact its own four-track EP. It features three new tracks from the See What's On The Inside sessions, one of which is a collab with In This Moment's Maria Brink. Let's hear what Ben Bruce and crew are bringing to the table this time:

“2021 was another strange year for everyone, so we wanted to do something special for our fans and kick the new year off with a bang! We are super excited to release the Never Gonna Learn EP. Instead of just releasing our new single we wanted to give you all something a little extra so we have included two brand new songs on this single EP, one of which we hold near and dear to our hearts, and another that we collaborated with our good friend Maria Brink of In This Moment.

Opening up with quite the distorted but absolute ripper of an intro riff, is the opening notes to 'New Devil'. It straddles inbetween today's contemporary alternative rock acts, and I could easily slot this in amongst Sleeping With Sirens. But of course, Asking Alexandria add their own spin here with lead guitarist Ben Bruce going full throttle on a hectic guitar solo. Ultra classical metal. MariaBrink (In This Moment) adds an extra layer of mystical lush on this punchy rock number, and sounds like she's having the time of her life:

“We’ve known Asking Alexandria for years and it’s nice to finally collaborate together. They are incredibly talented and joining forces with them was a lot of fun. I can’t wait for everyone to hear the song & I’m grateful to be a part of it.”

The EP's centrepiece, 'Never Gonna Learn' is, as I said last year, the radio friendly earworm we all need more of from Asking Alexandria. From Danny's soaring vocal melodies to the anthemic guitars erupting from behind, the song takes us on quite the journey of empowerment. Overall, the song is pretty infectious yet still representative of the band's present identity. If there's one track that'll be memorable from See What's On the Inside, it's most definitely 'Never Gonna Learn'.

For the final two tracks on this special release, the band opt for a slow yet graceful change of pace. Accompanied with a piano at the helm, the guitars in 'Miles Away' ascend out of nowhere into a towering chorus. A song filled with love and gratitude for family and home life, it'll kinda tear you up just listening to it and feeling all those emotions. Final track 'Find Myself' acts as the final piece of the puzzle to this AA era. It starts off quite cinematic (almost as if I'd hear this in the background of Paradise City), but it's Asking Alexandria blossoming into the mature, alternative/rock/metal outfit they were destined to be. 'Find Myself' strips back alot of the heavy, but at the same time we get to uncover more emotion and truth from the passionate musicians they are.

Overall, Never Gonna Learn is going to instil the much needed inspiration that you've been yearning for. Furthermore, we're finally given the completed version of who Asking Alexandria are in 2022. While they'll always have those metalcore origins of the 2000s, the passionate UK rockers have grown and matured into quite the metal/rock group who are aiming for iconic guitar moments.