CD review THE AMITY AFFLICTION “Misery’

(6/10) The first song that was revealed from The Amity Affliction’s newest album ‘Misery’ was ‘Ivy (Doomsday)’. Being more then solely a video clip the single is part of a sort of short movie that’s split in three parts. Already at this early stage of the review I have to say that some more time for the music and some less time for three-step video support would have been a good thing. You can sense already where this is going to,

The Amity Affliction started in 2003 and has a track record of five longplayers. The most successful one to date is ‘This Could Be Heartbreak’ with scoring chart entries in several counties. In the beginning it was band’s home country Australia that valued the releases very much. Since 2016 things became more international with ‘This Could Be Heartbreak’ finding many friends in Europe and North America.

To make use of the momentum the trio worked on the sixth full-length record – ‘Misery’. The album features 12 songs and the sound of The Amity Affliction is described as post-hardcore and metalcore. Both fits in certain way to what the album is about. On the one hand The Amity Affliction has the harsh outbursts, the shouts and the heavy guitars, but there’s a lot of pop-melodic sugar that’s basically included in each of the songs. This sweetness mainly covers everything and shifts the album from a raging pievce of music to a mass-compatible record that misses some soul. It’s nothing wrong with combining heaviness and meody and I can understand the fascination of a wider group of fans for what they get offered. However, after having listened to the album I must conclude that there wasn’t anything that surprised me, neither wowed.

‘Misery’ isn’t exactly that – a misery. But it also doesn’t provide the ultimate thrill since the songs are done in a cookie cutter approach. There’s basically nothing wrong with the album. Melodies are catchy, riffs are partly heavy, and vocals cover a range of clean singing to loud shouts. All this is fine and dandy. It strikes me though that things are well planned. You can recognize a certain success formula that’s also used by band like Underoath and others. A bit less planning, replaced by some spontaneity would have definitely benefited ‘Misery’. Missing some heart and soul makes ‘Misery’ to a professionally produced pop/rock album with some metalcore outburst.

(6/10)

Tracklist: