Well, they didn't exactly announce it; rather, they unspooled the news in a maddening, cryptic sequence of clues, a seemingly wild goose chase that’s been driving the AFI world into a frenzy since Monday morning. And now the mystery is at least partially solved. The clues have led to the discovery of a contest in which the band will pick six fans to sing on the next AFI record. Yeah, you read that right. The band is going to choose fans based on videos they submit to YouTube to participate in the creation of the new album. Holy cow!

The band used a series of long, extended, and confusing clues through their main website to direct people to Begin Transmission, a new contest that aims to get six people to be a part of the new AFI record.

I found out about the site while I was following the strange mystery behind AFI's homepage. I've got a summary of the third AFI mystery still going; suffice to say that it was a pretty hectic and confusing experience. Check it out to follow how all of us discovered this contest!



The contest itself requires fans to submit a video under two minutes describing his- or herself. In the video on Begin Transmission's homepage, Davey Havok asks that you "[tell] about yourself, what music you like, what other art inspires you outside of music....what your hobbies are, what your job is, what school you go to, what your friends are like..." Jade Puget adds, "Anything that you want to do to show a glimpse into your life, so we can see what you're about."

The contest runs from December 20th through January 5th. Please make sure to visit Begin Transmission for full rules and details! Check out the discussions on the original mystery blog and over at AbsolutePunk as well.