Asking For It

Part 5

In 1999, the resurrected Misfits were gaining popularity as a wrestling act, and Danzig was jealous. He brought back his mid-career band, Samhain (pronounced SAM-HAYNE) to open up for his god-awful “Danzig 666” incarnation. Punk icon Todd Youth filled in the remaining gaps in both bands. A few weeks before, I’d attempted to see them in Philly with Dimmu Borgir, but my car broke down on the way. The day after the ECT show, AFI was going out on the next leg of that tour.

The Danzig/Misfits influence on AFI was clear in the live show, not only with the multitude of Misfits covers they played, but with the Danzig poses Havok struck as he sang. His outfit was all black vinyl (he’s vegan, remember), and he sported black eyeliner and a devilock hairstyle. No matter how many times I shouted, they did not play a single Samhain cover. AFI achieved a double-cover with a cover of Metallica’s cover of ‘Last Caress.’  

After the tour, Havok effectively became Danzig’s replacement on a new Samhain album. The band was called ‘Son of Sam,’  and had Samhain alum Steve Zing and London May, as well as Todd Youth, and Havok for lyrics and vocals. Their album was  “Songs From The Earth.” Danzig provided additional guitars and keyboards. It was like a Samhain album with only the good songs. No “Halloween 2: Version 2.0,” no “Human Pony Girl,” and definitely nothing like that one song where that is just Danzig ranting over a thunderstorm. “Songs of the Earth,” if you ask me, is a rare perfect album. This incarnation of the band never toured, and Havok was unable to return for the second album due to commitments with AFI.

The Samhain tour clearly had a profound affect on AFI as a band. The next two releases,  “All Hallows EP,” and “The Art of Drowning” are deeper and darker, and considerably slowed from earlier records. ‘Drowning’ brought the band for the first time in the public eye, achieving a #1 spot on the Billboard charts.

What would years later become known as the Emo scene rushed to Hot Topic for AFI T-shirts, accessories, and wrist-cutting razors emblazoned with the band’s logo. 2006’s “Sing The Sorrow” contained very little of the punk sound the band originated with. Most tracks close with Havock sobbing sloppily into the microphone. In my opinion, this is their masterpiece. Here is where they first explore themselves musically without overdoing the ‘poor-me’ pretension that marred later releases. Too much sadness killed the followup, “DECEMBERUNDERGROUND.”

“Hey Miss Murder, can I make beauty stay if I take my life.” That is the chorus of December’s first single, “Miss Murder.” An actual adult committed that line to paper. Did Havok expect to be taken seriously ever again? The lyrics for the rest of the album are just as painful. As lyrical quality spiraled into the Abyss, overall music could find no limit. DUG is easily their catchiest collection since Davey snipped the Devilock. I hated it, but I couldn’t stop listening. I found myself constantly wishing someone would catch me singing one of these songs under my breath and punch me in the face for it. I would do the same if I caught anyone singing these songs. Then I would do a duet. “Crash Love” came next, and I don’t think it left my stereo for a month. It could easily have been a year. I passionately hate that album, but I can still sing along with every song.

Other than “Black Sails,” “Burials” was the album that took the longest to hook me. I hated it the first time I listened to it, but it was already on my iPod by then. The Dude was a very lazy man, and I never removed those songs. Shuffle brought them through again and again until I was worn down. Consider this my public take-back of all the negative comments I made about it on social media.

Since their first shift in style on “Black Sails,” AFI has managed to release no two albums that sound alike. This kind of creativity may be a result of an unbelievably consistent lineup. Havok and drummer Adam Carson have remained constant since the band’s 1991 high school formation, with Jade Puget and Hunter Bergan on guitar and bass since the post-college reformation in 1997/98. By all appearances, after nearly 20 years together, they remain friends as well as co-workers.

I’ve never gotten to see AFI again since that night I snuck into the last ECT show. When they came back around, tickets were selling out within minutes of going on sale. I am 99% certain I nearly tripped over Havok at an art gallery shortly after I moved to New York City, but he gave me the evil eye, and I did not stop to ask his identity. The moral of the story is that I hope you never, ever, ever… EVER find out that I’m a huge fan of AFI. If you somehow hear about it, please don’t tell anyone else. It will wreck my image.