Final Rating : 7/10
AFI’s tenth studio offering, AFI (The Blood Album), feels like the blood, sweat and tears of all their hard work over the last 25 years. Hailing from Ukiah, California, the band has been known to reinvent themselves with each of their albums – but this time it was a little different.
The band’s career started out in hardcore before morphing into their punk rock/emo era. This brought them mainstream success with their albums Sing The Sorrow and decemberunderground, both landing them in the Billboard Charts Top 5. Their 2009 release, Crash Love, felt very much like a pop album, while in 2013 they released Burials, which took fans down a darker route.
With The Blood Album, AFI showcases all of the definable moments throughout their entire career while refining their craft. So Beneath You, Dumb Kids, and Pink Eyes features fast paced drumming on top of these intense punk-styled guitar and bass riffs that really bring you back to AFI’s earlier years. Davey Havok’s aggressive vocals as he goes through the chorus of Pink Eyes really packs a powerful punch to the song. While lyrically, songs like She Speaks The Language brings back the darker themes and imagery that was found in Burials.
A stand out track on this album is definitely Hidden Knives. It’s as if they took the best parts of their decemberunderground era and mixed it in with the best parts of Crash Love. Jade Puget’s poppy guitar riffs on top of Havok’s clean vocals really meld this track together, and will leave it stuck in your head for days.
From track to track, I find this album doesn’t run as seamlessly as their previous ones and misses it’s full potential as it feels a little choppy. But whether you love or hate this album one thing is for sure: AFI (The Blood Album) is a clear product of all of the hard work the band has poured into their career, and there is something on this album for both of their new and old fans
Songs To Check Out : Hidden Knives, Get Hurt, Pink Eyes, White Offerings
