A Compact Disc Review: A Fire Inside's Decemberunderground

Jun 12, 2006 13:56

K, so I just tried telling Anthea how good the new AFI album is, and I figured I'd write a review for shits and giggles. So, herein is my extensive review of AFI's not-even-week-old release, Decemberunderground...

General overview:
AFI's been around for well over a decade now, and their ability, as well as their sound, has evolved significantly from their days of singing about pizza, cereal, and ninjas. This album is, like most of AFIs albums, different from every other one of AFI's albums. It uses a lot of synth looping, and the occasional drum machine, but at its core, it's still AFI, ergo a good punk album.

Tracks:
1. Prelude 12/21 - the standard AFI intro track. Y'know how rappers always try and use philiharmonics and choirs to sound epic? well, yeah, Davey Havok's voice is epic. Take THAT, fitty!
2. Kill Caustic - Holy crap! Davey screams and sings, Jade's, Hunter's, and Adam's guitar, bass and drums are all top-notch. It's fast, it's hard, and it's badass. If these guys needed punk cred for this album (which they don't, 'cuz they're AFI), this would seal the deal.
3. Miss Murder - The single. It's different, to be sure, but a great track nonetheless. I'm sure you've probably heard it by now, so you pretty much know what it sounds like.
4. Summer Shudder - Kinda mellow, but a solid track. Jade knows his Gibson, and it shows.
5. The Interview - The slowest track on the album. Probably also the most melancholy sounding. The vocal duet between Davey and Jade at the end over an organ really clinches it.
6. Love Like Winter - What happens when Davey Havok and Dave Gahan have a baby, and that baby has a baby with the baby of Glenn Danzig and Robert Smith? This song, that's what. Hmmm... I think I saw a porno like that once.....
7. Affliction - Like Kill Caustic, it's screamy, fast, hardcore goth-punk goodness. It features a killer Jade riff during the verse, and after the actual song is over, it goes into this kind of trip-hop esque interlude written by Jade, pure electronic, that ends up clocking an extra 2 minutes or so on the track.
8. The Missing Frame - Another very new-wavey song. It honestly sounds like it should be on a Cure or Depeche Mode album. Still good, though. Very anthemic.
9. Kiss and Control - Hard and slow. It seems lyrically like some kind of socially conscious statement, maybe on fame, I can't quite tell. It has this great rant at the end - I don't care who you are, when Davey Havok starts screaming, you bloody well listen.
10. The Killing Lights - This honestly does not sound like an AFI song, in any way, save maybe the occasional guitar riff. It is however, kinda catchy, and an absolutely scathing jab at what celebrity does to people.
11. 37mm - Starts off as what sounds like it was Nine Inch Nails inspired, but once the guitar and Bass kick in, it begins to sound more like AFI. A good song, but once again musically unprecedented for the band.
12. Endlessly, She Said - Purely an AFI song. Slow, mellow, and hard at the same time, painful sounding. A great wrap-up to the album.

Overall Impression:
A good album? Yes. Worth Buying? Yes. Their best album yet? Well, from my purely subjective standpoint, no. It has its high points, and the evolution of their sound is evident when you listen from one album to the next, but I gotta say, I was hoping for a little more energy. That being said, my only advice is to go out and get this, like, now. It definitely takes you by surprise, but it grows on you really quickly.
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