AFI have never been afraid to shed their skin. From their hardcore beginnings in Ukiah in the early ’90s, through the gothic-mainstream success of Sing The Sorrow and Decemberunderground, to the alt-rock detours of Burials and Bodies, Davey Havok’s band has always questioned its own identity. With their twelfth album, Silver Bleeds The Black Sun…, the metamorphosis becomes definitive: the immersion in ’80s-rooted goth is complete.
The opener The Bird Of Prey evokes Placebo gone western-noir, with dusty guitars, driving drums and Roger O’Donnell-like synths. From Behind The Clock to Holy Visions, all the way to Ash Speck In A Green Eye, the coordinates are unmistakable: in 2025 AFI sound like a cross between Bauhaus and Sisters Of Mercy. The album reaches for anthems without abandoning post-Joy Division danceability (Ash Speck In A Green Eye), even nods to Billy Idol(Marguerite), and finds in the production of Jade Puget and Tony Hoffer the perfect balance between spaciousness and control: wide reverbs but bass, drums, vocals and synths always clear and sharp.
The closing track Nooneunderground tries to rekindle their skate-punk past, but the connection to their new guise feels tenuous. The point is that AFI have now chosen the path of darkness: less pogo, more altars. Goth is no longer a disguise but a home, and the band steps into it without ever looking back.