Mentioned this in the 2006 re-ranking story comments but I think decemberunderground has to be one of our scene’s best crossover albums. Didn’t do as huge as other bands obviously but musically I think it’s clearly better than a lot of em.
yea decemberunderground was what got me into them when i was like 13. ofc i eventually went for the older shit soon after--black sails in the sunset is still my favorite--but decemberunderground is seriously good still imo even tho ppl hated on it a lot at the time. but from what i can tell ppl also hated on the art of drowning when it came out so wtf ever ha. i usually dont like when bands change their sound so dramatically that its like listening to a different band, but the shit was just good so cant be mad. tho if i were to go to an afi show i would still want to see the old songs more for the most part.
Decemberunderground was my intro to AFI too. It's so funny to think about how people trashed on them for "selling out" when they were just exploring new sounds and doing a damn good job of it, too.
The heavier songs like Kill Caustic and Affliction are the only parts that didn't hold up for me on DU. That "scream" Davey was shooting for was kind of out of his range compared to the shouting thing he did on the previous albums. Aside from that I can still listen to the album everyday. Summer Shudder is a perfect song.
I loved this album growing up, and honestly think it holds up so much better than a lot of similar records.
i remember thinking that decemberunderground was super overproduced at the time when it came out and it kind of turned me off. but, looking back on it now, i think it's awesome and probably their best sounding album for sure. i really like davey's screaming on that one too, but i can understand why he didn't want to scream like that on any other album, it was definitely the trendy emo/post-hardcore sound that was popular at the time, and he may have overdid it just a little bit. his punk shout and the "not so metalcore" screaming he did on sing the sorrow was perfect! i'd love for them to go back to that sound.
I Heard A Voice is solid and shows how good Davey sounded during the DU era. Live albums are always a bit hit or miss for me but I love to still spin that one.
DU hit me pretty good a few years after it came out. Wasn’t into it much when it first came out. Miss Murder was okay when i heard it and saw it love, but I still didn’t care for it. Second song I heard from the album was Prelude 12/21 and I about died. I couldn’t believe it. I wrote the album off almost immediately bc of that. There are some sweet tracks on the album though. it wasn’t until I saw them in 2009 and they played a lot of DU songs live which got me into the album more. it’s always been Art Of Drowning, Black Sails, and STS for me when it come to this band though. Interestingly enough, Burials is the album I’ve gone back to the most the past 5 years or so. I love it. I also think Crash Love is incredibly underrated.
I have both the DU bunny and STS logo tattooed on me. If I had to pick a third, I think BSITS and then AOD.
On Kill Caustic Davey's voice going from those high falsetto to those screams is both marvellous, but like someone above said, at times when he would scream it sounded like it was painful for him.
Don't really remember the details, but didn't he blow out his voice or something between STS and DU? So maybe that's why the pained sound of his screaming post STS. I remember the band had to cancel a tour due to it.
He did. I had mixed feelings about DU initially, but mostly because STS was/is my favorite album, full stop. DU has definitely grown on me in the 14 years since, however, and now I love it.
He was incorporating the screaming style into the older songs too, up until the Burials tour. That’s the only album he really screamed on because even the heavier vocals on STS are closer to the shouting style he did on the Nitro records. I’m a little surprised that they still play Kill Caustic so often because that’s gotta be hell on his voice. He makes it work though.
Listened through DU, CL, and now I'm on Burials. This album kind of rules. Did it get it's due when it came out? Kind of feel like people had written off AFI as a legacy act after CL, but this one slaps. EDIT: I thought I remembered liking the Blood Album more, but it kind of sucks. Currently on So Beneath You. I know White Offerings got me so hyped on this album before it came out. EDIT 2: dang forgot how much Snow Cats slaps.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Blaqk Audio lately, ever since Spotify played their cover of “You Spin Me Right Round” for me the other day
Yea that sounds about right. I remembered that but then couldn't find anything about it when I tried to google it before posting to make sure I wasn't going crazy
i really need to give Crash Love a proper chance. Burials got a lot of hate when it came out but it's actually pretty damn good. The blood album has some really good songs (still a stranger/snow cats/white offerings) and some really bad ones (get hurt/aurelia/so beneath you). love the missing man EP, if they stick with that sound their next album will be really good!
If you guys are interested in afi inspired tattoo flash art check out jacobdoneytattoo on IG looks pretty cool and I might pick one up myself bc the art looks rad