AFI lead vocalist Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget announce 'XTRMST,' the self-titled debut album from the duo's new straight-edge hardcore band. The first single from the album, "Conformist," is a prime example of what the pair have produced on XTRMST.

"Jade and I have been talking about starting a straight edge hardcore band for years," says Havok. "We started writing and recording in early 2012 and chose the name XTRMST because it expresses the messages represented on the record. The straight edge movement is not one of moderation. It's based in undeniable objective truths."

The 14-track album was produced and mixed by Puget at his home studio and at The Treehouse in Los Angeles, and comes via Dim Mak Records, the indie label founded by DJ/producer (and former member of hardcore band This Machine Kills) Steve Aoki. Although Aoki and Dim Mak are most often seen as leaders in the electronic dance music space, the release of the XTRMST album marks a return to Aoki and Dim Mak's hardcore roots.

"I wanted these songs to be chaos, at times difficult to listen to, the wild architecture difficult to understand, but with a taste of the hardcore we grew up on thrown in. The vocals are raw and the main vocal in every song is the first take," says Puget.

Fans began buzzing about XTRMST this past March, when Vacation Vinyl in Los Angeles offered free copies of a four-song cassette and rumors of a new project from Havok and Puget lit up the Internet.

"These songs are the purest expression of emotion, with no thought towards commerce or accessibility," says Puget. "And the album was made with the amount of money you have in your pocket right now - just 2 people expressing their love and hate into microphones in a tiny room." AFI lead vocalist Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget announce 'XTRMST,' the self-titled debut album from the duo's new straight-edge hardcore band. The first single from the album, "Conformist," is a prime example of what the pair have produced on XTRMST.

"Jade and I have been talking about starting a straight edge hardcore band for years," says Havok. "We started writing and recording in early 2012 and chose the name XTRMST because it expresses the messages represented on the record. The straight edge movement is not one of moderation. It's based in undeniable objective truths."

The 14-track album was produced and mixed by Puget at his home studio and at The Treehouse in Los Angeles, and comes via Dim Mak Records, the indie label founded by DJ/producer (and former member of hardcore band This Machine Kills) Steve Aoki. Although Aoki and Dim Mak are most often seen as leaders in the electronic dance music space, the release of the XTRMST album marks a return to Aoki and Dim Mak's hardcore roots.

"I wanted these songs to be chaos, at times difficult to listen to, the wild architecture difficult to understand, but with a taste of the hardcore we grew up on thrown in. The vocals are raw and the main vocal in every song is the first take," says Puget.

Fans began buzzing about XTRMST this past March, when Vacation Vinyl in Los Angeles offered free copies of a four-song cassette and rumors of a new project from Havok and Puget lit up the Internet.

"These songs are the purest expression of emotion, with no thought towards commerce or accessibility," says Puget. "And the album was made with the amount of money you have in your pocket right now - just 2 people expressing their love and hate into microphones in a tiny room."