Every band has that one artist who kicked open the door, flicked on the stage lights, and made them think: “Yeah… this is what I want to do with my life.”
For Black Veil Brides frontman Andy Black, that band was AFI.
The singer has praised the California punk and alternative rock icons for the enormous influence they had on both his own musical journey and the eventual identity of Black Veil Brides, describing their impact as something almost impossible to put into words.
And when you look at the theatrical darkness, emotional songwriting, enormous choruses, and proudly outsider spirit running through both bands, the connection makes perfect sense.
This isn’t just a musician politely name-dropping one of his favourite groups, either. AFI helped show Andy that rock music could be dramatic, vulnerable, aggressive, stylish, mysterious, and completely unapologetic — often within the same song.
That influence would later become part of the creative foundations upon which Black Veil Brides built their own gloriously over-the-top empire. 🦇🔥
🎸 AFI Changed the Rules
AFI began life in the early 1990s as a scrappy punk band, but their refusal to remain trapped inside one particular musical box became one of their defining qualities.
Across their career, the group evolved through hardcore punk, horror-inspired aggression, gothic atmosphere, alternative rock, electronic textures, and huge melodic songwriting.
Rather than staying still and endlessly repeating the same formula, AFI continued to change.
That willingness to transform helped make albums such as The Art of Drowning, Sing the Sorrow, and Decemberunderground hugely important to a generation of young rock fans who felt disconnected from the mainstream.
AFI weren’t simply writing songs. They were building a world.
There was the dark imagery, Davey Havok’s commanding presence, the emotional intensity, the cryptic lyrics, and the sense that their fans were part of something much larger than another ordinary rock band.
For a young Andy Black, that combination was clearly powerful stuff.
🦇 From AFI Fan to Black Veil Brides Frontman
Long before Black Veil Brides became an international touring force, Andy was another teenage rock fan searching for music that made him feel understood.
AFI offered exactly that.
Their songs carried darkness without becoming hopeless, theatricality without becoming ridiculous, and emotion without losing their punk energy. It was music for outsiders, dreamers, misfits, and anyone who had ever felt slightly out of place.
Sound familiar?
Black Veil Brides would later build a similarly passionate relationship with their own audience.
From the band’s earliest days, their message centred around individuality, survival, self-belief, and refusing to allow other people to define who you are.
That message helped create the BVB Army, one of modern rock’s most dedicated and instantly recognisable fan communities.
Much like AFI before them, Black Veil Brides became more than a collection of musicians playing songs. They became a place where fans could feel accepted.
Tidy bit of influence there, mun. 🤘
🔥 More Than Just the Look
The obvious visual similarities between AFI and Black Veil Brides are difficult to ignore.
Both bands have embraced black clothing, dramatic presentation, gothic imagery, and frontmen capable of commanding a stage before they’ve even sung the first note.
But AFI’s influence on BVB goes much deeper than eyeliner, tattoos, and wardrobes that could frighten the staff at your local Greggs.
It can be heard in the way both bands use atmosphere.
It appears in their love of enormous choruses and emotional build-ups. It exists in the contrast between aggressive guitars and melodic vocals, as well as the idea that heavy music can still feel cinematic and deeply personal.
Black Veil Brides blended that spirit with their own influences from classic heavy metal, glam rock, metalcore, punk, and arena-sized hard rock.
Andy and the band didn’t simply copy AFI. They took inspiration from the freedom AFI represented and used it to create something unmistakably their own.
🎤 Building an Identity Without Apology
When Black Veil Brides began gaining attention, they quickly became one of the most talked-about bands in alternative music.
Fans loved them.
Critics argued about them.
Internet comment sections became absolute war zones.
Meanwhile, the band carried on writing massive songs, playing bigger venues, and attracting an increasingly devoted audience.
That determination to continue despite criticism feels connected to the same outsider mentality that surrounded AFI.
Neither band seemed particularly interested in fitting comfortably into whatever trend was fashionable at the time. They created their own imagery, their own communities, and their own musical worlds.
For Black Veil Brides, that confidence became essential.
The band’s look was bold, their ambitions were enormous, and their music was designed to be shouted by thousands of people rather than quietly enjoyed in the corner.
AFI helped demonstrate that being different wasn’t something to hide. It could become your greatest strength.
💿 The Albums That Inspired a Generation
For many fans, Sing the Sorrow remains AFI’s defining masterpiece.
Released in 2003, the album balanced punk urgency with gothic atmosphere, emotional melodies, and ambitious production. Tracks including Girl’s Not Grey, The Leaving Song Pt. II, and Silver and Cold became alternative anthems.
Three years later, Decemberunderground pushed the band even further into mainstream consciousness, powered by tracks such as Miss Murder and Love Like Winter.
These weren’t simply successful rock records. They became soundtracks for a generation of teenagers discovering who they were.
Andy Black was among those listeners.
The emotional connection he developed with AFI would eventually feed into the way Black Veil Brides approached their own records — creating albums filled with drama, identity, struggle, defiance, and hope.
Songs such as Knives and Pens, Perfect Weapon, Fallen Angels, In the End, and The Legacy would perform a similar role for BVB fans years later.
One generation of outsiders inspired another.
That’s the rock ’n’ roll circle of life, butt — only with more leather, hairspray, and dramatic music videos. 🖤
🤘 AFI’s Influence Is Still Everywhere
AFI’s impact reaches far beyond Black Veil Brides.
Their ability to move between punk, alternative rock, gothic music, post-hardcore, and electronic sounds helped open doors for countless bands who refused to remain confined to one scene.
They proved that changing your sound didn’t necessarily mean abandoning your identity.
That lesson remains particularly important in modern rock, where artists are constantly criticised whenever they experiment or attempt something unexpected.
AFI survived because evolution became part of who they were.
Black Veil Brides have followed a similar path, moving between raw early material, conceptual albums, symphonic heavy metal, radio-ready rock, and darker cinematic songwriting.
Both bands have changed over time, but the emotional bond with their audiences has remained at the centre of everything.
🖤 Giving Credit Where It’s Due
There’s something genuinely refreshing about hearing an artist openly celebrate the bands that inspired them.
Rock history is built on those connections.
The bands of the 1970s inspired the metal giants of the 1980s. Those metal giants inspired the alternative and heavy bands of the 1990s. Then groups such as AFI inspired a new generation, including Black Veil Brides.
Nobody creates music inside a vacuum.
Every riff, visual idea, lyric, and live performance carries traces of the artists who came before.
The important thing is what musicians do with that influence.
Andy Black and Black Veil Brides took the inspiration they found in AFI and transformed it into their own sound, their own mythology, and their own worldwide community.
That isn’t imitation.
That’s legacy. 🔥
🎸 The Riff Report Verdict
Andy Black describing AFI’s influence as “indescribable” feels entirely understandable.
AFI showed him that a rock band could be dark without becoming one-dimensional, theatrical without losing sincerity, and emotionally vulnerable without sacrificing power.
Black Veil Brides carried those ideas into a new era, introducing another generation of fans to music that celebrated outsiders and encouraged people to embrace exactly who they were.
Without AFI, Black Veil Brides may have become a very different band.
Without Black Veil Brides, thousands of younger fans may never have discovered AFI.
That’s how the scene survives.
One band lights the match.
Another grabs the flame.
Then somebody launches it across a festival field while everyone loses their minds and spills a £7 pint. 🍺🔥
Long live AFI.
Long live Black Veil Brides.
And long live the beautifully dramatic world of black clothing, massive choruses, and music that makes every misunderstood teenager feel ten feet tall. 🤘🖤
Did AFI shape your taste in rock music? And can you hear their influence in Black Veil Brides? Let us know in the comments, mun!
