Silver Bleeds the Black Sun...

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 bands collective love of groups such as Echo and the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, its 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, and 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 and 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 Havoc/Pugets projects might wonder if these were once Blaqk Audio 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, Silver Bleeds the Black Sun is a fully committed, thematic foray into the darker corners of the AFI experience. ~ Neil Z. Yeung