Īfter a decade of recording mostly unscripted, improvised albums focused on his deep musical relationships with a few key players, pianist Bill Anschell returns to recording his own compositions and arrangements on Rumbler, his fifteenth as a leader or co-leader. In the middle, there’s also an anticipation-building changeover as ‘So Beneath You’ bursts out as AFI’s old-school punky herald, gives way to accessible sing-along ‘Snow Cats,’ and the aforementioned aggression really gets going from ‘Dumb Kids’ onwards” – TheMusicalMeltingPot. As a whole, it feels like a relay race started off by AFI’s slicker, more commercially oriented side (the pace set by ‘Dark Snow,’ ‘Still A Stranger,’ ‘Aurelia,’ ‘Hidden Knives,’ ‘Get Hurt,’ and ‘Above The Bridge’) and continued with raw, aggressive style that proves AFI haven’t forgotten their roots (‘Dumb Kids,’ ‘Pink Eyes,’ ‘Feed From The Floor,’ ‘White Offerings,’ and ‘She Speaks The Language’) before finally finishing with a self-stretching, end-of-the-line blues dirge (‘The Wind That Carries Me Away’). AFI – also known as “The Blood Album” – is precision-engineered to satisfy AFI fans old and new. They still have plenty left to give – and more than a few fans hungry for more music. At this point, they have little to prove – but AFI are not yet ready to settle back on their laurels and fossilize into a nostalgia act. “Eclectic punk godfathers AFI are the kings of keeping going, progressing over more than twenty-five years from outsiders to insiders to chart-topping legends. AFI – AFI (The Blood Album) CD/LP (Concord)
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