Bending Metal

Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Motorhead. Amidst the club of hardcore metal band names, Asking Alexandria doesn’t seem to fit.

But don’t let their name fool you. Listen to “Don’t Pray For Me,” the first song on their latest album From Death to Destiny, and it’s clear the British band is a force of its own. The song begins with sound effects reminiscent of a metal Super Mario video game mixed with classical strings before launching into brute-force guitar and a heavy drum attack while screaming, “You’re fucking crazy, if you think that I’ll ever change / I am I, I am me, I’ll never change my ways.”

Don’t be scared. Amidst the traditional metal screams lie catchy choruses accessible to a non-metal audience, evoking the metal-core Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold, but also Blink-182.

To an outsider, metal can come off simply as pent-up rage and spewed profanities, but at least in “Don’t Pray For Me,” Asking Alexandria uses the genre to passionately express a message worthy of even a children’s fable: Be yourself.

The band practices what they preach, whether that means asking a crowd to tear down a decaying roof at a venue they were playing to covering an Akon song that now has more than 10 million YouTube views. The roof of the McDonald is sound, but who knows what the power of metal will bring.

Asking Alexandria plays with Bless The Fall, Chelsea Grin, Upon A Burning Body and The Family Ruin 6:30 pm Monday, Dec. 1, at McDonald Theatre; $25 adv., $28 door, all-ages.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!