After years slowly evolving their sound, while simultaneously indulging their pent-up '80s fantasies with
Blaqk Audio
,
AFI
go all in on the gear-shifting
Silver Bleeds the Black Sun
. A logical step in their late-era growth, this set takes them further yet from their youthful hardcore days, leaning into the adult goth-rock and post-punk that had been a highlight on predecessors
The Blood Album
and
Bodies
. The lush and layered production is the real standout here, spreading over each song like a haunted shadow to create a fitting atmosphere of sexy menace, dangerous edge, and a certain macabre comfort in its nostalgic embrace. Directly influenced by the band's collective love of groups such as
Echo and the Bunnymen
Sisters of Mercy
Bauhaus
, and
Siouxsie and the Banshees
, it's a straightforward exercise in hero worship. From the lurching, feedback-drenched "Behind the Clock" to the cavernous,
Cure
-esque "A World Unmade,"
Davey Havoc
Jade Puget
Adam Carson
Hunter Burgan
expertly nail this aesthetic. "Holy Visions" gallops along an insistent beat, squiggly
New Order
-esque bass, irresistible groove, and vocal theatrics that
Havoc
was made for, falling somewhere in between
Peter Murphy
Andrew Eldritch
in his delivery. "Ash Speck in a Green Eye" takes a similar approach, cranking up the tension a few degrees further. There are plenty of moments where fans of both of
/
Puget
's projects might wonder if these were once
ideas; indeed,
Silver Bleeds
might be better received by that faction of the fan base than those expecting any raucous punk-rock blasts (the frantic spook-show thrill of "NOONEUNDERGROUND" comes closest to their early-aughts output). As it stands, this 12th effort is an outlier in their catalog for sure, but also one of their tightest and most enthralling. Pushing the quartet onto yet another exciting path of artistic and creative evolution,
is a fully committed, thematic foray into the darker corners of the
experience. ~ Neil Z. Yeung