AFI
- 'The Blood Album' review
So,
me and Nat are both long-term AFI fans, so I always feel the need to
at least have a good listen to anything they put out. They've divided
a lot of people since probably around 'Sing the Sorrow', when they
started to drop the speed and aggression in favour of drama and
theatrics, and they've continued to develop the latter for the past
few albums since. Personally, I like that AFI change and grow with
each album; their respective members are too creative to be the kind
of band that churns out the same sounding stuff every couple of
years, and I have a lot of respect for them for perpetually evolving
over twenty years of being a band (my favourite albums are still 'The
Art of Drowning', 'The All Hallows' EP, and 'Sing the Sorrow'
though). So, this album sounds mostly like 'Crash Love'; it's not as
dark, electronic, or mechanical sounding as their last effort
'Burials', but still retains that almost pop-rock sound that they
tend to favour now. Don't expect much speed, but you'll find plenty
of variety in dynamics; 'White Offerings' is the most aggressive of
the bunch (and vaguely reminds me of 'The Leaving Song Part 2'),
there are some upbeat catchy numbers like 'Hidden Knives', as well as
some slower, moodier tunes like 'She Speaks the Language'. 'Pink
Eyes' is a banger as well. Davey Havok is still a great vocalist; his
balance of singing and shouting (of which the pitch of the former and
harshness of the latter have both softened into a narrower but
pleasant medium) definitely suits the scope of sounds on here, and
Jade's general creative-wizardry is as wide and impressive as ever.
Not sure if I imagined it, but I thought I heard lyrics touching on
religion and gender-identity too, so that's cool. I think everyone
misses old AFI, but if your music taste extends beyond punk and
hardcore, and you're willing to give it a chance, there's plenty to
enjoy on here.
xox
No comments:
Post a Comment