Blaqk Audio is the industrial laden-electro pop side project of AFI masterminds Davey Havok and Jade Puget.  As a huge fan of AFI, I was immediately interested in what these two were working on.  With Havok maintaining his role behind the microphone, Cexcells does parallel the more recent works of AFI as it relates to vocals, but the foundation is much different.

Cexcells features no punk-driven guitars or throat-wrenching screams, but does illustrate Havok’s vocal talents and Puget’s programming skills.  Complete with drum machines, pianos, keyboards and other electronic innuendo, it allows these two to do something they may not have had the freedom to do with AFI.

“On Friday” and Semiotic Love” are upbeat danceable tracks that one might hear at a rave, while “The Fear of Being Found” is more of a melancholy sing-a-long.  Havok’s vocal range is best heard on “Stiff Kittens” and “Bitter for Sweet.”

Many of the tracks on Cexcells are sure to stick in listeners heads for days and with the success of AFI, Blaqk Audio is sure to be a successful side gig. You don’t need to be into industrial to dig Blaqk Audio.  I give Cexcells a 9 (out of 10).