AFI, who will release a highly anticipated new album in January, will open for Deftones next spring in the UK. Tour dates below: Continue reading
Tag Archives: AFI
System Of A Down, Aerosmith, Biffy Clyro Booked For Download 2017
The return of System Of A Down, along with Aerosmith who will be on their farewell tour, and Biffy Clyro have been announced as headliners for next summer’s Download Festival 2017 in the Donnington, UK. More details below: Continue reading
Sick Of It All Marks 30th Anniversary With New Album, Tour Dates
Legendary New York Hardcore band Sick Of It All are celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2016. Not ones to take a victory lap, they have announced a new album, When The Smoke Clears, releasing on November 4th from Century Media Records.Continue reading
AFI Side Project Blaqk Audio Book Spring Tour Dates
Blaqk Audio (sometimes stylized as BLAQK AUDIO) has booked a slew of spring tour dates to support their forthcoming April release of their new album Material (Blaqknoise/Kobalt). Direct support will come from Night Riots on all dates. Blaqk Audio features Davey Havok and Jade Puget from AFI.
Focusing solely on electronica and classic industrial sounds of acts such as Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Ministry, Squarepusher, Nitzer Ebb, and Front 242, Davey Havok commented on Blaqk Audio:
“Blaqk Audio is pure electronica whereas AFI uses organic instruments. AFI has drums and bass and guitar and there’s none of that in Blaqk Audio.”
“Being huge music fans and fundamentally driven by music in a creative sense, BA is a wonderful outlet for our long-standing love of electronic music. Were it not for BA, I’d still be writing this type of music, even if it never saw the light of day.”
Blaqk Audio tour dates, with Night Riots:
May 04: House of Blues – San Diego, CA
May 05: Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
May 06: Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
May 07: Ace of Spades- Sacramento, CA
May 10: Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
May 11: Croc – Seattle, WA
May 13: In The Venue – Salt Lake City, UT
May 14: Bluebird – Denver, CO
May 16: Turf Club – Saint Paul, MN
May 17: Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
May 18: Mod Club – Toronto, ON
May 20: Sinclair – Cambridge, MA
May 21: U Street Music Hall -Washington, DC
May 22: Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
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Saint[The]Sinner – Masquerades EP
Since Kiefer Sutherland’s piercing, well, I was going to say eyes but let’s go with teeth, made rock chicks around the world swoon and crick their necks to be bitten, vampires and rock/metal have been more than bedfellows, with both aesthetics, lyrics, band names and even subgenres and scenes entwined. Cradle of Filth blew up by cleverly playing the vampire game (no, not ‘I Vant To Bite Your Finger’), Atreyu resurrected the spirit of the Old Ones in their ascension, Korn temporarily buried their career by associating themselves with the Queen of the Damned, even the hippest of the underground, Tribulation, danced with the children of the night earlier this year, Manowar penned one of their best songs (‘Each Dawn I Die’) in honour of the sleepless, and let us not forget Aiden, the dumb bastard black (formaldehyde) sheep of the flock…
And so Saint[The]Sinner have exhumed a classic, pale theme for their sprightly, theatrical pop-rock meets post-hardcore, and it’s a cape they wear well as, with a flourish, they swoop down on ‘Theatre Of Broken Dreams’ haunted house intro and sink their incisors into a vibrant, hurtling, fast paced metalcore lead off track to new EP Masquerades (self-released). As twin vocals trade-off, the throatier screams give way to an engaging, welcoming chorus and a pattern is set.
Keeping energy levels up throughout is one boon of Masquerades, a Premier League production is another, allowing the endearing and vigorous song-writing to flourish and (widow’s) peaks to peak. With the clean vocals adding an off-centre Panic! At The Disco feel to their arsenal, particularly on lead single ‘She’s A Vampire’, it’s a welcome addition to the heady mix of AFI, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold and Dommin that is sure to see the band on a steep upward trajectory their burgeoning and bloody talents deserve.
The camp horror theme is a cute touch, but don’t let it detract from the fact that the English South Coast crew have summoned forth a beastly set of strong, gratifying, grin-inducing tunes. Saint[The]Sinner have hit the mix right on the money; whether it’s clean or scream on the vocals, it’s all about being dramatic and leaving those hooks in you, as fangs lock into your flesh and notable melodies are injected like venom into the bloodstream in a way that reminds you that, you know what, sometimes this metal thing is about energy and fun, and each track sounds like it was a (monster’s) ball in the creating.
8.0/10
STEVE TOVEY
Matt Skiba And The Sekrets- KUTS
Matt Skiba is very busy these days. He’s fronted Alkaline Trio for close to two decades and also dabbled in side projects like Heavens and The Hell. In case you didn’t know, he’s also currently filling in for Tom Delonge in Blink 182.
And because apparently the devil makes good use of idle hands Skiba just released KUTS (Superball Music) with The Sekrets. The Sekrets almost being a supergroup for the Alternative Press crowd as it also features AFI bassist Huntar Burgan and My Chemical Romance’s Jarrod Alexander on drums.
Are you still with me? Good, because if you are a fan of any of those aforementioned groups then you are in for a pleasant surprise with KUTS.
The formula here hasn’t drastically changed. It’s simple, yet effective songwriting mated to a bright, but not overbearing mix. And that’s not to say that 2012s Babylon or Haven’t You EP weren’t good, but The Sekrets are starting to stretch their sound a little more as opposed to sticking with traditional pop-punk compositions. While there still are bits pf punk fire from time to time like on opener ‘Lonely and Kold’ and ‘She Said’ it seems that Skiba and his cohorts have been revisiting their The Smiths, The Cure, and Echo & The Bunnymen LPs.
This more post-punk approach really sets in on the second half of KUTS. Songs like ‘Way Bakk When’ and ‘Hemophiliak’ shift The Sekrets’ emphasis to melancholy as opposed to two minutes of aggression. ‘Never Believe’ and ‘Vienna’ close out the album and finds Skiba further channeling Johnny Marr with simple but haunting music to compliment his almost world-weary vocals.
Skiba finds a way to honor some of his musical heroes without it coming across as just a love letter to the late 70s and early 80s. But then again the man has time for what seems like 400 other musical projects. Not sure how he does it, but hopefully he won’t stop soon.
8.0/10
HANSEL LOPEZ
Music Video: Matt Skiba and the Sekrets – Album Teaser Video
Matt Skiba and the Sekrets are streaming a teaser video for their new album Kuts, which will be out June 2, 2015 via Superball Music. The band features Jarrod Alexander (of A Static Lullabye,) bassist Hunter Burgan (of AFI,) and of course, led by Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio).
KUTS Track Listing:
01: Lonely and Kold
02: She Wolf
03: Krazy
04: She Said
05: I Just Killed to Say I love You
06: Way Bakk When
07: Krashing
08: Hemophiliak
09: Never Believe
10: Vienna
XTRMST Announces Debut Show, Digital Box Set
XTRMST, the straight edge hardcore outfit featuring vocalist Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget of AFI, sold out their debut live performance at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on January 29, 2015 in minutes. They will be playing songs from their debut self titled release, out now via Dim Mak Records.
The band will offer a digital box-set via BitTorrent Bundle on December 1, 2014, featuring the unreleased song “Little King,” content documenting the formation of the band, the making of their debut album, and a digital version of their hand-made XTRMST Zine. The zine itself will feature interviews with members of the straight edge community and unique commentaries from Havok and Puget. Check it out here .
In anticipation of the BitTorrent Bundle release, Havok & Puget will also be live on December 1 for an online fan Q&A via their XTRMST Tumblr page. Dubbed their “Dashboard Confessions,” the band will be answering fan-submitted questions via the ‘ask’ feature on Tumblr. Fans can start asking today, and should follow the blog for details.
Watch the music video for their first single “Conformist” here.
XTRMST on Facebook
XTRMST on Twitter
XTRMST on Instagram
XTRMST on Soundcloud
AFI Members New Hardcore Side-Project Xtrmst, Single Out Today
Davey Havok and Jade Puget of punk rockers AFI have a new side-project in form of straight-edge hardcore band Xtrmst. Their first single ‘Conformist’ is out today. Their self-titled debut album drops on November from Dim Mak Records, the label run by DJ/producer Steve Aoki 18th. Stream another new song ‘Words for the Unwanted’ below:
https://soundcloud.com/xtrmst-xtrmst/words-for-the-unwanted
Official Press Release:
AFI lead vocalist Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget have announced a November 18 release for Xtrmst, the self-titled debut album from the duo’s new straight-edge hardcore band. The first single from the album,“Conformist,” will be available this coming Tuesday, October 7. In conjunction with this announcement, the pair have posted a brand new album track online called “Words For The Unwanted.” Listen now at www.Xtrmst.com.
“Jade and I have been talking about starting a straight edge hardcore band for years,” says Havok. “We started writing and recording in early 2012 and chose the name Xtrmst because it expresses the messages represented on the record. The straight edge movement is not one of moderation. It’s based in undeniable objective truths.”
“The straight edge philosophy is something that Davey and I gravitated towards at a young age, drawn by concepts and ideals that seem almost foreign in modern society,” says Puget. “Like much of the other subcultures we were a part of growing up, it put us at odds with 99% of the people around us, which was something we embraced. Being sXe for over 20 years and being musicians, it seemed natural that this crucial ideology would find a musical expression.”
The 14-track Xtrmst album was produced and mixed by Puget at his home studio and at The Treehouse in Los Angeles, and its November 18 release will come via Dim Mak Records, the indie label founded by DJ/producer (and former member of hardcore band This Machine Kills) Steve Aoki. Although Aoki and Dim Mak are most often seen as leaders in the electronic dance music space, the release of the Xtrmst album marks a return to Aoki and Dim Mak’s hardcore roots. “I got into straight-edge hardcore when I was a teen. It was my community, it was the reason I picked up a guitar, it’s the reason I was in bands, and ultimately it was the reason why I started Dim Mak,” says Aoki. Although no longer a staunch straight-edge follower today, Aoki expands, “I met Davey a while back and we bonded over our shared experiences in straight-edge culture. We found a lot of kinship there, and so it made sense for us to release an album that represents the spirit of what originally birthed Dim Mak.”
“I wanted these songs to be chaos, at times difficult to listen to, the wild architecture difficult to understand, but with a taste of the hardcore we grew up on thrown in. The vocals are raw and the main vocal in every song is the first take,” says Puget.
Fans began buzzing about Xtrmst this past March, when Vacation Vinyl in Los Angeles offered free copies of a four-song cassette featuring a simple XT logo next to a sign that read, “Do you like hardcore? Fan of Straight Edge? If so – take this tape for free!” The tapes disappeared instantly and rumors of a new project from Havok and Puget lit up the Internet. When the rumor mill went into overdrive, Puget took to Twitter to announce, “Now that the cat is out of the bag, Xtrmst is indeed Davey and I. More to come.”
“These songs are the purest expression of emotion, with no thought towards commerce or accessibility,” says Puget. “And the album was made with the amount of money you have in your pocket right now – just 2 people expressing their love and hate into microphones in a tiny room.”
“Xtrmst” track listing:
1. Words For the Unwanted
2. Conformist
3. Social Deathplay
4. Merciless
5. Exterminate
6. Sharper
7. Extremist
8. The Breed
9. Humanity
10. The Way
11. Swallow Your God
12. Dirty Nails
13. Juliets
14. Coward Bow Your Head
Xtrmst on Facebook