“Burials” by AFI
A new effort by the now-post, post-hardcore group AFI will take you back to high school, which is sometimes as depressing as it sounds. The album sticks with the band’s normal themes of personal pain and suffering. But pounding drums and Davy Havok’s growling voice are let down by atypical emo guitars that float above the rest, feeling light and insubstantial. The album opens on a good note with the introductory track “Sinking Night” which sets up the less fierce “I Hope You Suffer.” In “17 Crimes,” listeners hear the singer struggling with the desire to be young again, which is an acknowledgement of what we knew already: The band is getting old. Near the end, “Anxious” is one of the stronger tracks on this album. The music harks back to the hyper-emotional, post-hardcore that listeners expected after 2000. But if you are looking for the stomach-shredding angst of the band’s 2003 gem “Sing the Sorrow,” abandon hope now.
If you like this, check out 30 Second to Mars’ “Love Lust Faith + War.”
