AFI - Burials (Album Review)

AFI has been around a while. Their first full length came out way back in 1995 and the band has been together since the early 90s. They've gone from underground heroes to a rock'n'roll success story. The band return with Burials. Burials has been a long time coming since Crash Love, the bands last release, which came out way back in 2009. It's nice to see the band return with such vigor and such an interesting album.

Two things I really like about this album is the tone and the style. It's very moody and atmospheric which is great and it finds a way to incorporate a lot of the vast elements of various AFI albums in such a great way. I think it's a far better album than Crash Love and I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few people felt the same way.

The bass on the album is fantastic. Hunter Burgan deserves a high five for how awesome his bass sounds on this album. I'd say the electronic elements, bass, and the vocals are some of the things that I first noticed and thought were really well done. Everything sounds really well done in fact. Burials is produced by Gil Norton. He did a fantastic job capturing the perfect vibe for the album. I think this album incorporates a lot of the elements AFI had with their album Crash Love, but it’s done much more successfully. Davey Havok's vocals are as good as they've ever been. His voice doesn't show a sign of wear or age at all. He sounds as confident as ever. It wouldn’t be an AFI album without his vocals. I am glad to hear he brings his A game to the songs throughout the album.

The album has so many interesting and standout tracks but a track like "The Embrace" shows the band really knows how to write an awesome song. It incorporates the electronic and rock sides of the band and it's so well thought out and executed. If you've ever been a fan of the band you should be able to easily enjoy a song like this. Luckily for fans the album is basically packed with songs that continue to stick out with repeated listens.

This is a busy album. When I say that I mean most of the songs have a ton of stuff going on. It's very layered. Sometimes when things are done like this it can create a little overkill. I don't think that is the case with this album at all. I really enjoy hearing the elements come together. In fact one of the cool parts about the album is listening to how the band is able to incorporate so much while still maintaining such a cohesive sound.

Black Sails Into The Sunset was the album that introduced me to AFI. It was the first album I heard of theirs and since that time the band has gone through a ton of stylistic changes. They have also become a very well known band in the mainstream world. I can't say I've liked everything they've done or have been a fan of every song they've written-with that being said-Burials is well worth your time to check out. This is a veteran band showing they know how to write good music and can still make worthwhile albums.