It was the 2000’s and there was this rabid fanbase called “The Church of Havok” that seemed to crave AFI and their brand of emo/post-hardcore brand of music. People identified with AFI’s music and I thought in this throwback section, what better way to commemorate AFI than to review “Decemberunderground”, which was released in June of 2006.
AFI promoted this album with “Charlotte’s Mystery” private shows in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Here are a few cool facts about the album:
- Ralph Seanz aka Michael Starr(Steel Panther) provided background vocals for two songs on “Decemberunderground”
- “Love Like Winter” was a major hit on MTV’s Total Request Live show, which was retired after 40 consecutive days in the top ten.
- On January 20th, 2007, AFI performed “Miss Murder” and “Love Like Winter” on “Saturday Night Live”.
- Despite debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, AFI never capitalized on a summer tour on this album.
After listening to this album, the song “Affliction” certainly stands out to me. I love the pop-punk feel combined with the hardcore vocal stylings, which showcased AFI at their peak. I feel like this album was the album where AFI really tried to expand their audience to be a more mainstream sound as their hits “Miss Murder” and “Love Like Winter” were certainly poppy. I also feel like Davey Havok was not satisfied with this album, hence they rushed back to the studio to release “Crash Love” via MySpace. Overall, I pass on this album. Madness To Creation rates it a 4.5/10 stars.
Here is the track listing below:
- Prelude 12/21
- Kill Caustic
- Miss Murder
- Summer Shudder
- The Interview
- Love Like Winter
- Affliction
- The Missing Frame
- Kiss and Control
- The Killing Lights
- 37mm
- Endlessly, She Said
- Rabbits Are Roadkill(hidden track)
On December 7th, AFI released their new EP entitled “The Missing Man”. Check it out on Spotify and Apple Music. Fans can find AFI at the following locations:
