Ukiah, California Goth-Punk outfit AFI have returned with their seventh studio album Decemberunderground,. From the start, it's obvious that this album is going to be quite "different" from the bands previous efforts.

On their Major Label debut, Sing the Sorrow, AFI ventured into Pop-Punk territory with the first single "Girl's Not Grey". The band also managed to incorporate more of the dramatic, melancholy goth sound they'd already been slowly gravitating toward. They did, however, manage to cling to their Hardcore Punk roots. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Decemberunderground.

The Album opens with the intro "Prelude 12/21", an intro that sounds more like something you would expect to find on an Eminem record....with a hip-hop backing beat, and slightly dark/depressing lyrical content.This leads into "Kill Caustic", a track that finds vocalist Davey Havok screaming, in an attempt to fit in with the likes of Atreyu and other similar bands. Unfortunately, Davey's high register vocals make his screams come off as more annoying, than aggressive. The staple Hardcore "Gang Chorus" is not utilized quite as often, and when the band does decide to incorporate it, they seem to lack conviction, and it ends up sounding really half-hearted and ultimately generic.

Lyrically, this whole album is pretty dark and depressing, but musically, the band completely fail to acheive the desired effect. Songs like "Summer Shudder" and "The Interview" do have some nice haunting melodies, yet still seem tailored to fit right in with any modern rock radio playlist, and ultimately sound more like songs you'd expect to hear on a Breaking Benjamin record. And the track "37mm" sounds like a total Nine Inch Nails reject, albeit more melodic, with the excessive use of synths and a backing techno/industrial beat. Davey even comes off sounding alot like Trent Reznor, at least initially. These tracks are not entirely bad, they're just not something you'd expect to hear on an AFI record. At the end of the day, this record is pretty unoriginal at best, and does nothing to set itself apart from anything that's currently big on the Radio and MTV.