AFI – ‘AFI (The Blood Album)’ [Review]
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Eclectic punk godfathers AFI are the kings of keeping going, progressing over more than twenty-five years from outsiders to insiders to chart-topping legends. At this point, they have little to prove – but AFI are not yet ready to settle back on their laurels and fossilize into a nostalgia act. They still have plenty left to give – and more than a few fans hungry for more music.
AFI – also known as “The Blood Album” – is precision-engineered to satisfy AFI fans old and new. As a whole, it feels like a relay race started off by AFI’s slicker, more commercially oriented side (the pace set by Dark Snow, Still A Stranger, Aurelia, Hidden Knives, Get Hurt, and Above The Bridge) and continued with raw, aggressive style that proves AFI haven’t forgotten their roots (Dumb Kids, Pink Eyes, Feed From The Floor, White Offerings, and She Speaks The Language) before finally finishing with a self-stretching, end-of-the-line blues dirge (The Wind That Carries Me Away). In the middle, there’s also an anticipation-building changeover as So Beneath You bursts out as AFI’s old-school punky herald, gives way to accessible singalong Snow Cats, and the aforementioned aggression really gets going from Dumb Kids onwards.
Eponymous albums are often intended to be definitive go-to options for those curious as to the core nature of a given band or artist. Although I personally prefer its second half – the performances in the first segment lack the same sense of fire, passion, and spark, a sense of this is what we do as opposed to this is what we have to do – if someone were to ask me what AFI are like, I’d still direct them to…well…AFI. Musicianship-wise, it’s solid; the songwriting is super effective; and when AFI turn up the intensity, they remain on top form.
TMMP RATING: 90% (Essential Listening!)
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