Music Review: AFI - "I Hope You Suffer"

Today's Music Review is of the new AFI single, "I Hope You Suffer."

AFI back in 2009. Left to right: Jade Puget (guitar), Adam Carson (drums), Hunter Burgan (bass guitar), and Davey Havok (vocals)

AFI used to be my favorite band since about 2005 through maybe 2009 or 2010 (then Peter Murphy took over that spot and has currently remained the reigning champion...though I'm pretty certain Davey Havok would be okay with this). However, the band's last two releases, 2006's Decemberunderground and 2009's Crash Love, while commercial successes, felt too mainstream and impersonal to me. Both albums certainly got their fair share of plays in my car, on my iPod, and on my computer, but it felt like the AFI I had come to love was vanishing and simply becoming another mainstream band.

Since 2009 and the tour supporting Crash Love, things had been mostly quiet on the AFI front. Davey Havok (singer) and Jade Puget (guitar) went on the eventually record and release a second album on their electronic-based side project, Blaqk Audio. Hunter Burgan (bass) eventually started up a merchandise line that sold things from shirts to coffee mugs and other assorted items and recorded an album for a new project called Las Gatas Beach Club. Adam Carson (drums) did...well...whatever he does when everyone else does something else. I'm not sure if Adam did anything in the interim as he isn't part of any permanent side projects that I know of.

Then starting just a few months ago, AFI began releasing cryptic videos on their website (the first of which is posted below), hearkening back to the days of Sing the Sorrow (2003) and the entire Clandestine mystery series. (I wasn't a huge fan at the time, so I admittedly never really got into the whole "mystery" thing, but from what little I read of it, the fan base was rather rabid over the whole thing, driving all over the country looking for clues and other crazy stuff) What one of the videos also revealed was a date - September 2013. It seemed official - after almost four years since Crash Love, AFI were coming back with a new album.

Now, AFI has been known for a constantly evolving sound. Their first studio album, 1995's Answer That and Stay Fashionable, is actually a punk/hardcore album. Much of their early work was in that vein. It wasn't until 1999's Black Sails in the Sunset when AFI began to turn towards more brooding lyrics, slightly slower tempos, and a darker complexity. The group found commercial success with 2003's Sing the Sorrow (sometimes considered their best album) and have since evolved into a more mainstream rock sound with the last two albums mentioned above. Would this new album be in the same vein as Decemberunderground and Crash Love? Or would it be yet a further evolution of the group's sound?

"I Hope You Suffer" opens with backing music that reminds me more of Blaqk Audio than anything AFI ever used (some synthesizers and piano...I've put a Blaqk Audio song below for those not familiar to get a sense, somewhat, of what that project sounds like). After the little intro, the song kicks into more of a rock anthem, full of a raw energy and power that was seen more and more on their last couple of albums. In roughly the middle of the song, there is a light interlude filled with Davey Havok's singing and some background group ooh's and aah's before returning to the hard rock sound.

Lyrically, the song seems to be from the point of view of a person who was perhaps in a relationship with another person that ended poorly. The other person went on, maybe found a new romance and has forgotten the original person they were with ("Deny the last one who cares/Intoxicate with the new"). But now things aren't so sunny in this new romance and the original person, who gave them their heart and now suffers, hopes this person suffers like they have.

Clearly gone are the days of Davey Havok's once immensely cryptic and poetic lyrics. This one is far too obvious and almost begs the listener to wonder if this is Davey Havok speaking about something that happened in his life recently-ish (I have a pretty good guess as to an event that could be referenced here, but it is pure speculation, doesn't have very strong evidence in my mind, and is largely irrelevant anyways to this discussion). It's not to say the lyrics are terrible or anything, but I personally miss the days where the lyrics were a bit more cryptic. One reason Peter Murphy constantly draws me into his music is how he maintains a level of cryptic-ness in his songs, which allows me to seek personal ties to each song as I find my own meaning in them. Here, I haven't been through an ordeal like this, so it's not as easy for me to connect to the song on a deeper, personal level.

Musically, though, this song has several complex layers of texture. The beginning throws me off a bit as it's not what I'd expect of an AFI song, but the progression throughout the song makes sense and flows. Davey Havok's vocals provide an energy and emotion to this song that help tell the lyrics not just through sound but through feeling. Jade Puget's guitar work also fits in nicely, refusing to be tamed by mere chords. At times his touch adds a nice ethereal effect to the background. The piano bits (which are most likely either done by Jade Puget or Hunter Burgan) fit in nicely during the main verses of the song and add further complexity.

It has been four years and a lot can happen in that time, but, AFI are back and just as good as ever. September is coming and it'll be a matter of time until we learn just what the rest of the album will be like. A clip of another song from the album has been spotted and is said to be more pop in sound, so time will tell on what the new work will truly be like. It'll also be interesting to see what direction the music video for this new single takes once it is released possibly later this month.


Rating: 4.5 out of 5

More Information: Official Site of AFI (and streaming location), Post War Science/Las Gatas Beach Club Site, Official Site of Blaqk Audio