AFI - Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (October 3, 2025) • Page 4

morte · Aug 5, 2025 at 12:05 AM

Really loving it. Didn't know he could sing so low!

adamlikesdogs · Aug 5, 2025 at 12:29 AM

The press release has me intrigued.

Crisp X · Aug 5, 2025 at 12:56 AM

This is so different yet still so AFI somehow. Definitely the most intrigued I've been by a single since I Hope You Suffer.

I'm 100% in for a unashamedly 80s post-punk, goth record.

Also have to revisit Bodies because nothing from that album hit me like this

j0nnymarrzbar · Aug 5, 2025 at 1:01 AM

I'm more shocked by Dave's pornstache than anything lol

Crisp X · Aug 5, 2025 at 1:06 AM

I hope his current beard shows up in an upcoming music video but pornstache Davey is shaping up to be one more iconic look in a career full of them lol

j0nnymarrzbar · Aug 5, 2025 at 1:19 AM

Nah I fuck with this. Johnny Marr is my biggest inspiration as a guitarist and this is giving me massive Smiths vibes

Crisp X · Aug 5, 2025 at 1:24 AM

The press release makes me believe this is going to be their best since Burials.

For more than three decades, AFI has been in a nearly constant state of reinvention. The band have made it a point to evolve with every album—sometimes dramatically so—never allowing themselves to become too comfortable in one genre or rest on any of their impressive career laurels. It’s an approach that has grown their audience but also challenged it with a sonic identity that can shift in wild, unexpected directions. Now with their twelfth album, Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…, AFI are once again at the start of a bold new chapter, only this time they’ve even managed to surprise themselves.

“I realize this is something we’ve said about our records for years, but this record is starkly different from what we’ve done in the past,” says frontman Davey Havok. “In our 33 years together, we’ve covered so much, musically, that I found myself daunted at the prospect of doing something different, and questioning what that would be.” So how does a band that’s known for creative upheaval still find ways to push themselves out of their comfort zones? Typically the group would start an album by immediately throwing themselves into writing and simply letting their intuitive musical shorthand guide the process, but for Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… AFI set out to purposely change their creative approach all together. This time it started with a conversation: how could they break new ground?

The key to moving forward actually ended up coming from AFI’s collective past. “We started with something that sounded like Echo & the Bunnymen,” explains guitarist Jade Puget, who produced and engineered the album. “But eventually we ended up with this melange of death rock and post-punk—all this stuff from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s that we grew up on, like Sisters of Mercy, and Bauhaus, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.” The goal became making an album with a singular mood, something dreamy and ethereal, and the band members found themselves diving headfirst into influences that had always been deeply embedded in AFI’s musical core, but now were being brought to the forefront. “We were leaning into that post-punk world and embracing that part of our DNA, but at the same time still sounding like AFI,” says drummer Adam Carson. The result is an album that feels out of time, at once familiar and fresh, drawing on classic sounds and reinterpreting them through a modern lens. Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… is dark and otherworldly, but also grandiose and stately, biting and beautiful in equal measure—in other words, it’s very AFI, yet not quite like any version of the band you’ve ever heard before.

It’s this combination of endless creative daring, deftly wielded influences, and above all else, an unshakeable sense of self that’s allowed AFI to stay relevant for more than 30 years, often leading the way through emerging musical moments. From their scrappy roots as a high school hardcore band in the early ‘90s (Answer That and Stay Fashionable, Very Proud of Ya and Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes), to their dark punk reinvention at the turn of the century (Black Sails in the Sunset and The Art of Drowning), to their crossover into mainstream stardom in the early 2000s (Sing the Sorrow and Decemberunderground) and their years as shapeshifting alternative rock journeymen (Crash Love, Burials, The Blood Album, Bodies), the band has survived and thrived by staunchly being themselves—no matter what that is. “We’ve gotten to experience virtually every aspect of the music industry,” Puget says. “Whether it’s playing to 20 people at [legendary DIY punk venue] 924 Gilman Street, and underground clubs across the country, to having a number one song at radio.” No one could have predicted that the same snarling hardcore band from California’s East Bay would one day be a globetrotting rock phenomena, racking up platinum records, performing on SNL, or taking home MTV Video Music Awards, but there’s a fiercely independent spirit that’s remained consistent throughout AFI’s journey, and it’s that same spirit that’s led them to their new label, Run For Cover Records, and Silver Bleeds the Black Sun….

Opening track “The Bird of Prey” immediately introduces many of the album’s recurring musical motifs: prominent acoustic guitar strums, lush synth textures, propulsive bass lines, and cavernous drums. These elements combine into something that feels intriguingly new for AFI yet fits perfectly within the band’s sweeping milieu. Havok’s voice enters the track as if to guide the listener through unfamiliar territory, but throughout Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… even his inimitable timbre sounds different. On brooding tracks like “Blasphemy & Excess” or “A World Unmade” the singular frontman twists and contorts his voice, pushing himself down to a baritone croon then nimbly swinging back to his soaring tenor range or into a hushed whisper. Elsewhere on the driving post-punk of “Voidward, I Bend Back” and “Marguerite” bassist Hunter Burgan channels Peter Hook and Simon Gallup, his airtight playing providing the foundation for Puget’s shimmering, intricate guitarwork.

Thematically, Havok describes Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… as “a struggle to reconcile existence in a godless dystopia that lacks sanctuary, mystique, reason, and a chance of survival.” On “Holy Visions,” he showcases these lyrical themes over the kind of muscular, dark new wave that would make Andrew Eldritch proud. “It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek,” Havok explains. “It addresses the concept of right and wrong, and good versus evil, and what is truly evil and is truly good, and whether or not there is such a thing, while also mocking organized religion.” Early album standout “Behind the Clock” roars to life around distorted bass and effects-drenched Killing Joke-esque guitars, while Havok takes inspiration from his lifelong love of the films of David Lynch, dissecting how we relate to the art we consume. “It’s an exploration of life mirroring art versus art mirroring life,” he says. “In a grander sense, it’s about who is part of the art and who is made of the art.”

That extra layer of intentionality is part of what makes AFI such a special and enduring band. Where so many long-running groups have stumbled, hung up on audience expectations or nostalgic navelgazing, AFI have flourished by fearlessly driving forward, making something that’s authentically meaningful to them and trusting that their genuine enthusiasm for the music will translate to their loyal listeners. “Long ago, it became very natural for us to shy away from things that were familiar,” Havok says. “For me, success is creating something that I feel happy about, and in order for me to connect with something, it has to be fresh.” That mentality is palpable throughout Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…, even as it comes to a close with “Nooneunderground” a track that starts with an atmospheric, disquieting introduction before it bursts into a raucous amalgam of death rock anguish and primal punk ferocity. The song feels like an alien, mutated version of AFI’s many different eras all seamlessly combined into the kind of outsider anthem that they’ve been excelling at for over 30 years—the perfect ending to a record that proves AFI still have plenty of surprises left for us.

KrisArronNev · Aug 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM

Penlab said:

(checks to make sure I'm not accidentally listening to Type O Negative)

Very "goth" to channel their inner Type O Negative.

Cr0akz · Aug 5, 2025 at 2:50 AM

Can't say I'm too stoked with this as the first release since Bodies Pretty disappointing.

AlwaysEvolving21 · Aug 5, 2025 at 3:13 AM

Hell yes. I love it. Definitley what I want from them.

The Crow soundtrack post was spot on. It’s got “Burn” by The Cure vibes.

There’s also some Bowie going on in there.

Joe4th · Aug 5, 2025 at 4:04 AM

Not super into this unfortunately

onionbubs · Aug 5, 2025 at 4:21 AM

this is cool, it's a little repetitive but it's a really enticing vibe and it's neat hearing them tackle this sound, particularly refreshing after the last two records

the guitars sound ripped from achtung baby and i mean that in a good way. honestly a lot of the instrumental works for me because it reminds me of U2

adamlikesdogs · Aug 5, 2025 at 4:42 AM

Do we know who the producer is on this? Doesn't sound like Jade this time.

Linton9488 · Aug 5, 2025 at 5:04 AM

It's kinda reminded me of Kasabian

Penlab · Aug 5, 2025 at 5:13 AM

adamlikesdogs said:

Do we know who the producer is on this? Doesn't sound like Jade this time.

It is. Says it right in the press release Crisp X posted.

adamlikesdogs · Aug 5, 2025 at 5:15 AM

Oh wow, I read right past that. Cheers.

bradsonemanband · Aug 5, 2025 at 5:49 AM

Ya know… If the whole album is something in this vein, I’ll take it. I’m definitely more intrigued after reading that press release.

Supernova · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:21 AM

I do not listen to Bowie, or the Cure, Bauhaus or acts like that. (I do fw some Type O Negative in certain moods). So we'll see how this album works for me. Song is fine. Maybe it will click in context.

Argus · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:26 AM

I love it so much! I'm glad they strive for constant reinvention, because if I'm honest I don't want to hear artists approaching/in their 50s trying to recreate something they did in their 20s.

Sean Murphy · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:28 AM

its a no from me dog

Matt · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:30 AM

i mostly stick to pre-decemberunderground AFI but I kind of like this one

Zachary Dresch · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:32 AM

I fuck with this. First thing I have fucked with by them since at least Bodies.

Penlab · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:48 AM

Zachary Dresch said:

I fuck with this. First thing I have fucked with by them since at least Bodies.

So since their last album?

Nate_Johnson · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:56 AM

I like it! Hunter's bass in the beginning is so good. I am glad they are continuing with the post punk of their last couple of releases.

Orla · Aug 5, 2025 at 6:58 AM

Not enough moustache

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