As if it were a tattoo they got when they were 19 and lived to regret, AFI blacked out their Facebook profile pic on October 14.
Since then, cryptic sounds and images — including three drops of black liquid, and short, scrambled video clips — have periodically dropped into the venerable California goth-punk quartet’s social media feed. The unexplained phenomena heralds the arrival of an unspecified something at midnight EST on Friday, October 28.
Based on what appear to be images of singer Davey Havok, guitarist Jade Puget, and bassist Hunter Burgan in a space resembling a recording studio, many fans speculate that the enigmatic something is a surprise new album. If so, it’ll be the first official AFI full-length since 2013’s passable Burials.
But what if AFI have something else in store?
Has Havok, an elastic vocalist rarely cited for his skills as a master hacker, unearthed the dreaded but inevitable Donald Trump sex tape? Perhaps AFI is finally ready to confess and apologize for their accidental but indispensible role in manufacturing justifications for Operation Iraqi Freedom? Do AFI know what really happened to JonBenet Ramsey?
At any rate, it’s been a busy 2016 for the AFI gang. Havok and Puget released the third Blaq Audio album Material in April, and Havok’s got a collaboration with the three dudes from No Doubt floating around in the ether. But it’s difficult to envision the No Doubt project or a batch of 2016 AFI tracks topping Havok’s splendiferous appearances on Damian Abraham’s Turned Out A Punk podcast, ‘cos that’s a wildly high bar to clear.
We’ll find out soon enough.
OCTOBER 28. MIDNIGHT EASTERN. https://t.co/5Li5rA6cmY pic.twitter.com/S1Pnqyufo7
— AFI (@AFI) October 25, 2016