- With a long standing career and a sound that manages to be both ever changing and consistent, there was a time you couldn't imagine AFI ever being called stale. Since the turn of the decade however, their output hadn’t really been on par with what had come beforehand. It lacked the teeth, the viciousness that used to rip through everything they did. Having grown from snotty skate punks into that iconic sound of the Sing The Sorrows and December Undergound era, then on into middle of the road, slightly-dark arena rock; the latter stuff didn’t really resonate with me in the same way as before. It's never too late to make amends. There's chatter of this EP leading into a full length studio album release in the near future and The Missing Man puts a solid case forward for what is to come. I might be rekindling my love with AFI because what we have here is a perfect blend of everything they’ve encompassed over their time together. A sense of urgency and purpose is ingrained in these songs.
Immediately, Trash Bat hits us with guitar lines that are gone as quickly as they came. Instead, glimmering synths shine over throttling performances from the rhythm section. Not wasting any time, the chorus screeches through with Davey Havok at his charismatic best and perfectly placed backing vocals. With nerver-wracking pacing, just one misstep away from falling over its own feet, The Missing Man reminded me of how damn good of a band AFI are. This is all the more sweet when Break Angels starts in similar fashion. However, the opener ignited one memory, this one lit another. It’s a brooding and thematic. I could imagine this kind of sound if AFI did the Switcheroo series with Alexisonfire instead of Moneen. Every droning riff resolves. When synths are brought back in, it doesn’t sound like a forced attempt to incorporate them. It’s struck a perfect balance. Balance, to me, is what makes this record. That doesn’t sound like much of a compliment but hear me out: throughout this EP AFI have played to their strengths.
Get Dark is a shameless anthem, the soaring vocals throw back to Answer That And Stay Fashionable, with its frenetic pace matching the effort. When everything calms down into the titular song, it all falls into place. AFI have pulled every trick from their library of playbooks and put together one of the most standout releases in ten years. If you wanted to introduce someone to this band, this is what you would recommend to said someone.
What I really liked about this EP is that it took me till halfway through Trash Bat before I was blown away; it was sneaky good. Having loved AFI for nostalgic reasons, this scratched that old itch. That's only the beginning though. The end is a set of deeply enjoyable songs that contrasted an intense dramatic flair and straight forward, freight train chords punk and it's all done just right. The Missing Man, benefits from crisp, punchy production and those ever-present synths and if this is the direction we’re heading in for with the next record, it’s going to be something to keep tabs on.
- Matt Lynch.