ASKING ALEXANDRIA Drummer: AVENGED SEVENFOLD Is Becoming 'The Next METALLICA'

Midwest Music Scene conducted an interview with drummer James Cassells of the British metalcore act ASKING ALEXANDRIA on November 17 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about AVENGED SEVENFOLD's chart success with the band's latest album, "Hail To The King", Cassells said: "AVENGED SEVENFOLD, they're good friends of ours. We've been on tour with them, and they're sweet dudes, awesome guys. They are stepping it up, man; they're going to the next level. They're already a massive, massive band, but they're becoming, like, the next METALLICA, the next IRON MAIDEN, a band that's gonna go down in history."

He continued: "It's so good how a true metal/rock act is getting to the point where it's, like, you're making this a mainstream thing, you're becoming a household name. And them doing that is helping every band that plays metal."

Commenting on the fact that AVENGED SEVENFOLD has gotten a lot of criticism for blatantly showing its influences on "Hail To The King", James said: "I think it's fucking sweet; I love it. People are knocking it: 'Ah, it sounds just like METALLICA.' I'm, like, 'Yeah, it does sound a bit like METALLICA. But who gives a fuck?' I like METALLICA and so do they. You've gotta remember as well, they lost one of the main writers in the band [drummer James 'The Rev' Sullivan, who died in 2009].

"We were talking to them and they said it was a fucking difficult album to write. And I can totally imagine: you not only lost your great friend, you've lost a major writer in the band. So it's gonna be different to their old stuff. But I fucking love it. They've got some serious tunes on the album, serious tunes. 'Hail To The King' fucking is an awesome single. It's still, like, doing fucking insane shit."