Album Details

• Artist: A.f.i.
• Album: Decemberunderground
• Label: Interscope
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: kev_stev on 2007-06-20

After over 3 years of silence, California rockers AFI return with a revolutionized sound, deviating from their past punk-rock dissonance and further expanding on the more tranquil, popish songs that were slowly introduced in their 2003 full release, Sing the Sorrow.  However, while Sing the Sorrow was a progression from past albums, Decemberunderground takes a step back, sounding as if the record were produced by an entirely different band.  AFI's new album seems to be marketed to a younger audience, making more radio-friendly songs and regressing in lyrical depth.  Comparison of lyrics shows the dramatic change between the two albums; while Death of Seasons" from Sing the Sorrow screams, "Out there so quickly grows malignant tribes/Post human extinction excels unrecognized/Feeling surrounded, so bored with mortality, I decay," their newest hit "Love like Winter" chants, "It's in the blood/I met my love before I was born/He wanted love, I taste of blood/He bit my lip and drank my warmth from years before."  While the lyrics are lacking, the songs do make for sub-par pop-rock music, with catchy guitar riffs and, as expected, explosive choruses.  Occasionally in songs like "Afffliction," front man Davey Havok will let out a shrilling scream, which shows that AFI has not completely lost its roots--they simply made a CD that would have been better suited as a side-project.

Albeit the predominantly popish Decemberunderground may have frozen A Fire Inside's flame, the overall album is not a terrible release.  Decemberunderground simply did not compare to Sing the Sorrow in any aspect, and, because of the album's worldwide success, long time AFI fans should no longer have expectations of a profound AFI release but merely more of the same radio hits.

User Reviews and Comments

Review:

on 2007-07-06 kev_stev Said:

Hollywood.
Not Rated

Review:

on 2007-07-05 blackxdan Said:

I have one question... What happened to afi?
Rating: 2/10

Review:

on 2007-06-22 dscanland Said:

Kevin, amazing first review! Welcome aboard. I wasn't a fan of Decemberunderground but what do I know. I, too, felt as if something was lost on this album.
Rating: 3/10