Silver Bleeds the Black Sun...

It’s been over two decades since emo-goth poster boys AFI were worth pinning on the wall, and Davey Havok’s newfound scumbag mustache didn’t exactly inspire confidence leading up to their twelfth album. Thankfully, looks can be deceiving: Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… feels like a band clawing out of the grave. It’s their finest work since genre cornerstone Sing the Sorrow. They’ve flirted with post-punk and death rock in the past but this is their first time embracing it wholeheartedly. Havok trades in his thin pop-punk sneer for a deep Peter Murphy-esque baritone; it fits him much better than the mustache. It’s referential, sure. “The Bird of Prey” cuts like Murphy’s solo material, “Holy Visions” borrows synth swirls from A Flock Of Seagulls, “Ash Speck in a Green Eye” visits Andrew Eldritch’s Floodland, “Behind the Clock” climbs The Mission UK’s Tower of Strength. Since that’s the stuff that influenced them in the first place, though, there’s a clear love and reverence for the sound. AFI may be going gray like the girl in the title of their best song, but their Black No. 1 hair dye holds strong.