afi - sing the sorrow album review
Written March 24, 2003

AFI (A Fire Inside) has ever been the genre-shifting chameleon of the punk scene, slipping effortlessly from cliché skate-punk to gothic borderline hardcore in the space of a few albums while maintaining a unique style that unmistakably radiates from each and every release. Sing the Sorrow carries on this tradition by continuing the gradual move away from the darkness that engulfed and defined Black Sails in the Sunset and unsurprisingly redefining AFI’s sound once more.

As the band’s first release on a major label, Sing the Sorrow will face intense scrutiny and skepticism from long-time fans anxious to preserve AFI’s musical integrity. At first listen, this album admittedly appears to be a fairly unremarkable musical outing and perhaps even a disappointment considering the shitload of money and talent (Butch Vig who also produced Nirvana’s Nevermind; perhaps you’ve heard of it?) that was poured into Sing the Sorrow.

Fortunately Sing the Sorrow proves itself with time, emphasizing a decidedly electronic influence this time around that eerily reminded me of defunct melodrama artists Stabbing Westward and incorporating more of the screaming that riddled songs in past release The Art of Drowning. As always, singer Davey Havok’s creative, moody vocals are a driving force in the album’s success, tackling emotion with a poetic element that is far beyond the grasp of most modern emo lyricists.

Sing the Sorrow boasts a number of varying songs, ranging from the wicked tempo-shifting screamfest Death of Seasons to the mellow, acoustic The Leaving Song which is easily reminiscent of Morningstar and AFI’s other previous attempts at understated sincerity. The mix explores a gamut of styles which somehow mesh together into a coherent, flowing album which never once seems disjointed or out of place.

When I listen to this album I can’t help but think of Tool’s Aenima, a work which blended equal parts of experimentalism and successful elements of previous releases to great success. While Sing the Sorrow contains the lyricism, vocal style and hardcore influences of previous outings, AFI’s test-play with electronica and varying tempo seems to be an indicator of the band’s future direction and deviance from the punk-rock formula. Regardless of the album’s precognitive abilities, Sing the Sorrow contains a great deal of depth and is a good addition to any punk or hardcore aficionado’s collection.

I must've written this when I was just thinking about applying for the Entertainment Editor position at the Cord. I remember Melissa, my predecessor, gave me this album because she really, really, REALLY needed content and near the end of the year nobody ever really wants to write. I evidently took the bribe - it kind of looks like I made a hearty effort at a sincere review too. Probably trying to seem like I had all kinds of musical knowledge so that I'd be a shoe-in for the job when I applied - lots of album name-dropping. Maybe it worked?