AFI

The origins of AFI (A Fire Inside) are humble -- four high school students making noise in a garage in the early 90's, looking for some way to alleviate boredom in a small town between skateboard sessions. As they learned to play their instruments with each practice, even they couldn't imagine what the band would become.

On September 26th, the band released their fifth full-length album, entitled The Art of Drowning, showcasing exactly what it is AFI has evolved into -- a band with a sound unlike any other, a sound where chilling melodies collide alternately with furious aggression and somber melancholy. While their music is firmly rooted in both punk rock and hardcore, they have effectively blasted away any distinction between the two and can claim an army of fans from both subcultures as well as virtually every other underground or extreme music genre from goth to metal.

In addition to original members Havok and drummer Adam Carson, the band has seen its share of lineup changes. Bassist Hunter Burgan (of The Force) entered the fold as a tour stand-in before recording on the band's third album Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, while guitarist Jade Puget (ex-Redemption 87) joined for the fourth full-length, Black Sails in the Sunset, as well as the subsequent All Hallows e.p., a four-song release that contains the original version of "Totalimmortal" (a song that received heavy radio airplay all over the nation when it was recorded by The Offspring for the soundtrack to the film "Me, Myself & Irene"). Puget's task was not easy: in addition to assuming guitar duties he became a primary writer of the band's music. Still, no one better understood where AFI had been musically and where they should go. He'd known the band since the very beginning and had played guitar on the flip side of their first ever release, a split 7" with Loose Change released in 1992.

The Art of Drowning contains the inevitable musical surprises that avid listeners have come to expect from the band, and is also a distillation of all that has come before, touching on every phase of their evolution, as well as showing signs of what is to come.