Art of Drowning

A.F.I.: Davey Havok (vocals): Jade Puget (guitar): Hunter (bass): Adam Carson (drums).
Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California.
"My whole life is a dark room" is the sentiment expressed by AFI on the appropriately titled "The Despair Factor," and there's no denying the uniformly bleak outlook of this young band. If they made music to match, this would be a rather dull ride, but they work the contrast nicely by backing their worrisome lyrics with explosion after sonic explosion of blistering punk.
AFI might be said to practice a variant of horrorcore, but not of the stylized, play-acting, Slipknot kind. Rather, the group comes off as a junior branch of the Misfits, mating the grim and the grisly with energetic, old-school punk bashing, and even a fairly conventional melodic sense. For those who think Halloween rock started with Marilyn Manson, THE ART OF DROWNING will provide a quick and infectious history lesson.