# Silver Bleeds the Black Sun...
**Silver Bleeds the Black Sun...** is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band AFI, released on October 3, 2025, through the independent label [Run for Cover Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/run-for-cover-records).[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews) • [2](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review) It is the band's first album on Run for Cover, following 2021's *Bodies* and 2017's *AFI (The Blood Album)*, and it marks a full commitment to gothic rock and post-punk after a decade in which AFI gradually incorporated alternative sounds of the 1980s into its music.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews) • [2](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and album number | AFI's twelfth studio album, following *Bodies* (2021) and *AFI (The Blood Album)* (2017)[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews) |
| Released | October 3, 2025, on Run for Cover Records (LP, CD, and digital formats)[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews) • [3](https://www.audiofuzz.com/2025/10/07/afi-unleash-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-their-boldest-gothic-turn-yet/) |
| Genre direction | Gothic rock and post-punk, influenced by Echo and the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie and the Banshees[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-mw0004596116) |
| Length | 34:01 on the digital release, ten tracks[5](https://musicbrainz.org/release/34be733d-4e7b-488a-bd42-931bbc53df9b) |
| Critical scores | Metascore 79/100 from 7 reviews (6 positive, 1 mixed)[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews); ChoruScore 83.09/100 across 11 professional reviews[6](https://chorus.reviews/index.php/albums/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) |
| Producer | Jade Puget, AFI's guitarist[7](https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-afi/h303t7ysn87lc) • [8](https://rocksound.tv/features/interview-afis-davey-havok-on-new-album-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) |
## Background and creation
AFI formed in the early 1990s as a hardcore punk band in California's East Bay. Over three decades, the quartet of vocalist [Davey Havok](https://www.edgepedia.org/davey-havok), guitarist Jade Puget, bassist Hunter Burgan, and drummer Adam Carson moved through hardcore, goth-tinged horror punk, alt-rock, and, on the last two records before this one, new wave and post-punk.[2](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-10-03/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) Havok told [Rock Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/rock-sound) that the idea for the album came from a friend who said the band needed to write its version of [The Cure](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cure)'s *Pornography* or *Disintegration*; in a meeting with the band and management he proposed creating a "mood record," and that explicit framework, new to the band's process, shaped the album.[8](https://rocksound.tv/features/interview-afis-davey-havok-on-new-album-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) In an Alternative Press interview he framed the same idea as a record with a single mood, closer to that ideal than any of the band's recent albums.[10](https://www.altpress.com/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-interview/) Havok also said he reached the lowest notes of his AFI career on this record, and the 10-month writing period produced "Behind the Clock" within its first days.[10](https://www.altpress.com/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-interview/) Puget handled production and engineering for the release.[7](https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-afi/h303t7ysn87lc)
The album was announced in 2025 with "Behind the Clock" as the lead single, ahead of the October 3 release.[11](https://cdnc.heyzine.com/files/uploaded/v3/4fc975a513ba50d39fccb46c7177bbe01093063e.pdf) Exclaim! reviewer Allie Gregory described it as an excellent lead single that signaled the overall quality of the album.[12](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review)
## Music and themes
The album trades AFI's earlier punk snap for cavernous synths, theatrical vocals, and elegiac songwriting, framing themes of mortality, nostalgia, and religious contemplation in moody, 1980s-tinged sonics.[6](https://chorus.reviews/index.php/albums/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung called it a "straightforward exercise in hero worship" of Echo and the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, and [Siouxsie and the Banshees](https://www.edgepedia.org/siouxsie-and-the-banshees), and described the lush, layered production as the album's real standout.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-mw0004596116) Reviewers also heard [The Cult](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cult) in "Behind the Clock," a [Sisters of Mercy](https://www.edgepedia.org/sisters-of-mercy)-style bombast in "Holy Visions," and a Cure influence in the icy synths and wiry guitar of "Voidward, I Bend Back" and "A World Unmade."[2](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review) Hunter Burgan's bass work drew specific comparison to Peter Hook and Simon Gallup.[13](https://loudpizza.com/products/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-signed)
Havok has described the album's thematic throughline as "a struggle to reconcile existence in a godless dystopia that lacks sanctuary, mystique, reason, and a chance of survival."[10](https://www.altpress.com/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-interview/) Metal Hammer's year-end summary described the record as "flamboyant 80s revivalism delivered with playful conviction," with post-punk melodrama and dystopian disenfranchisement, noting a smattering of [The Smiths](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-smiths) and [The Sisters of Mercy](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-sisters-of-mercy) alongside Bauhaus and [Joy Division](https://www.edgepedia.org/joy-division).[14](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/metal-hammers-albums-of-the-year-2025)
## Tracks
The ten-track album runs about 34 minutes on the digital release.[5](https://musicbrainz.org/release/34be733d-4e7b-488a-bd42-931bbc53df9b)
1. The Bird of Prey (3:09)
2. Behind the Clock (3:57)
3. Holy Visions (3:30)
4. Blasphemy & Excess (3:05)
5. Spear of Truth (4:11)
6. Ash Speck in a Green Eye (3:18)
7. VOIDWARD, I BEND BACK (2:29)
8. Marguerite (3:05)
9. A World Unmade (4:01)
10. Nooneunderground (3:16)
"Behind the Clock," "The Bird of Prey," and "Holy Visions" were the songs critics mentioned most often, with "Blasphemy & Excess" and "A World Unmade" also surfacing in multiple write-ups.[6](https://chorus.reviews/index.php/albums/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) Havok named "Behind the Clock" as possibly his favorite AFI song.[10](https://www.altpress.com/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-interview/)
## Reception
The critical response was broadly favorable. The album holds a Metascore of 79 on Metacritic from 7 reviews, six positive and one mixed; musicOMH (80), Clash (80), Kerrang! (80), and AllMusic (80) gave their highest marks, with Classic Rock at 70, Sputnikmusic at 70, and Record Collector at 60.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews) Chorus.Reviews, which aggregates professional reviews on a 0-100 scale, recorded a consensus score of 83.09 across 11 reviews, with a range from 70 to 90.[6](https://chorus.reviews/index.php/albums/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) Stephen Hill of Metal Hammer called it AFI's best album in over a decade.[2](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review) Metal Hammer ranked it 16th in its top 50 albums of 2025.[14](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/metal-hammers-albums-of-the-year-2025)
Recurring criticism targeted sameness: the Sputnikmusic review argued that a lack of variation in songwriting holds the album back, noting that "Ash Speck in a Green Eye," "Voidward, I Bend Back," and "Holy Visions" share similar percussive cadences, and that "Spear of Truth" and "The Bird of Prey" have hard-to-distinguish acoustic progressions.[15](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/90169/AFI-Silver-Bleeds-the-Black-Sun/) Clash and AudioFuzz similarly noted that some tracks mesh together under the gothic atmosphere.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews) • [3](https://www.audiofuzz.com/2025/10/07/afi-unleash-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-their-boldest-gothic-turn-yet/)
The album entered several year-end and best-of contexts: Chorus lists it among the Best Albums of October 2025,[6](https://chorus.reviews/index.php/albums/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun) and it appeared on the KVSC 2025 Top 88 Album Shortlist and in Metal Hammer's and other outlets' 2025 year-end lists.[16](https://www.kvsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/KVSC-2025-Top-88-Album-Shortlist.pdf) • [14](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/metal-hammers-albums-of-the-year-2025)
## References
1. [Critic Reviews for Silver Bleeds The Black Sun... - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun/afi/critic-reviews)
2. [AFI Silver Bleeds the Black Sun... review - Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review)
3. [AFI Unleash 'Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…' - AudioFuzz](https://www.audiofuzz.com/2025/10/07/afi-unleash-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-their-boldest-gothic-turn-yet/)
4. [AFI: Silver Bleeds the Black Sun... - AllMusic review](https://www.allmusic.com/album/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-mw0004596116)
5. [Release "Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…" by AFI - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/34be733d-4e7b-488a-bd42-931bbc53df9b)
6. [Silver Bleeds The Black Sun... - AFI - Chorus.Reviews](https://chorus.reviews/index.php/albums/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun)
7. [Silver Bleeds the Black Sun..., AFI - Qobuz](https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-afi/h303t7ysn87lc)
8. [INTERVIEW: AFI's Davey Havok On New Album 'Silver Bleeds The Black Sun…' - Rock Sound](https://rocksound.tv/features/interview-afis-davey-havok-on-new-album-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun)
9. [Inside AFI's journey to its definitive album - Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-10-03/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun)
10. [AFI: Behind Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… - Alternative Press](https://www.altpress.com/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-interview/)
11. [NEW Magazine, 2025 announcement issue](https://cdnc.heyzine.com/files/uploaded/v3/4fc975a513ba50d39fccb46c7177bbe01093063e.pdf)
12. [AFI Continue to Excel at Reinvention on 'Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…' - Exclaim!](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-review)
13. [AFI "Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…" (SIGNED) - Loud Pizza Records](https://loudpizza.com/products/afi-silver-bleeds-the-black-sun-signed)
14. [Metal Hammer's albums of the year: 2025 - Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/metal-hammers-albums-of-the-year-2025)
15. [Review: AFI - Silver Bleeds the Black Sun - Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/90169/AFI-Silver-Bleeds-the-Black-Sun/)
16. [KVSC 2025 Top 88 Album Shortlist](https://www.kvsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/KVSC-2025-Top-88-Album-Shortlist.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › New wave and post-punk albums › Gothic rock albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license