Miss Murder ”Warn your warmth to turn away / Here it’s December, every day”. These haunting lyrics from the second single (“Love Like Winter”) from the seventh studio album from AFI still resonate to this day. DECEMBERUNDERGROUND was released in the early summer of 2006 and came off of the band’s mainstream breakthrough success of Sing The Sorrow. The LP found the band once again working with producer Jerry Finn and solidified AFI as a marquee act in the rock scene. DECEMBERUNDERGROUND features more of an EDM, gothic rock, and synthwave type of sound to it throughout, with heavy electronic elements found in several instances on the album. AFI invited listeners into the world of their new album with lead single, “Miss Murder”, that featured a stomping bass line, heavy guitars, and a great vocal performance from Davey Havok to set the song apart from what was on the radio at that time. What stood out to me the most on DECEMBERUNDERGROUND was AFI’s ability to continue to reinvent themselves while still staying true to the sound that The Despair Faction faithful would approve of. A bit of a bold choice to release a winter-themed record in the heart of summer, AFI proved that they didn’t need to conform to industry norms in order to make an impact that connected with audiences far and wide.
Being no strangers to introductory songs throughout their career, “Prelude 12/21” helped with setting the stage for the world that they were inviting fans into with the opening lyrics of, “This is what I brought you this you can keep / This is what I brought you may forget me / I promise to depart just promise one thing / Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep.” The track was also used in the long version music video of “Miss Murder” to assist with launching into the heavy, goth rock found on the lead single. “Kill Caustic” is an aggressive punk rock song that would’ve also worked on Sing the Sorrow, or even The Art of Drowning, as it stands apart from the stylistic choices made on DECEMBERUNDERGROUND. By the time “Miss Murder” comes on, it demands immediate attention with it’s great beat, energetic performances from the four band members, and some cool atmospheric elements added into the mix to make for a radio ready single. As the track unfolds in the bridge, Davey Havok effortlessly goes from a soft croon to a visceral growl in the back half of the bridge to bring some hardcore context to the song.
”Summer Shudder” seemed like a logical second single from the set, but it never made its way to the radio airwaves. It features the memorable refrain of, “Under the summer rain / I burned away” and has remained a staple in the band’s live sets for quite some time. It’s now considered one of the band’s best “deep cuts” and it still rocks with a profound urgency to this day. “The Interview”, on the other hand, is a somber song that is largely built around the opening guitar riff from Jade Puget before Davey sings his complex poetry over the bass line from Hunter Burgan. In the closing stages of the song, Davey Havok explains the album title in the context of, “Calm down, come down / Cold resides with me / I’ll flee to Decemberunderground / As you exhale, I breathe in (and sink into) / The water, underground / And I’ll grow pale without you.” It adds in just the right amount of mystery and allure to it over the organs being played in the background to make for a memorable moment on the record.
”Love Like Winter” was the official second single from the LP and the music video featured the snowy, ice-laden environment that AFI were going for in the aesthetics for this album. The song is a great mix of industrial synths, programmed beats, and would allude to some of the stylistic choices made on Jade and Davey’s future project, called Blaqk Audio, that would make its debut shortly after the promotional period of this record. One of the other songs found on DECEMBERUNDERGROUND called “37mm” was originally going to be saved for the Blaqk Audio project, but the band felt it had a place within AFI.
”Affliction” rocks with the same type of punk energy as “Kill Caustic” and features a great hook in the chorus of, “Oh, I will be all right, just use me / Just use me / The future’s bright without me / Spend some time walking the line.” Davey delivers a gorgeous and haunting vocal performance on the bridge of this track, and his bandmates rally around his every lyric as they speedily wrap up the song shortly after. “The Missing Frame” was the third and final single to be released from the set, and it highlights a NIN-type of synth rock song that accelerates and builds on itself to the finish line. The anthemic chorus of, “I’ll let you tear it up, if you don’t wake me up / But if you tear it, we can’t repair it / So please, don’t wake me ’til someone cares / Now, no one cares,” was built for radio success and it helped with getting DECEMBERUNDERGROUND achieving Platinum status from the RIAA.
”Kiss and Control” alluded to more of the heavy, industrial type of brooding rock that the band would explore more deeply on subsequent records like Bodies, and especially 2013’s Burials. “The Killing Lights” opens with a vibrant guitar riff from Jade, while Hunter’s bassline reverberates off the speakers nicely. The underrated drumming from Adam Carson is really intricate on songs like this, as he picks his spots for some unique fills in the track. The album closer of “Endlessly, She Said” is a sprawling song that has some incredible pacing to it, and features the pre-chorus of, “Still, each time, I always meant / Every word, every one / Though, in time, they finally bent / Every word, every one, every word.” It’s still one of my favorite AFI album closers of all time, if not one of my favorite ways of finishing off an album altogether.
DECEMBERUNDERGROUND benefited greatly from a strong lead single, support from MTV on getting major airplay of the music videos, and a “victory lap” of sorts with AFI’s first live album of I Heard a Voice that would be recorded on the tour in support of the album. The Despair Faction of AFI’s most faithful fans was growing at an alarming rate at this period of time, and it showed very little signs of slowing down any time soon.