The Amity Affliction - 'House of Cards' Album Review

2 days ago
5 min read

Tracklist:

1. VIDA NUEVA

2. KICKBOXER

3. HOUSE OF CARDS

4. HEAVEN SENT

5. BLEED

6. BREAK THESE CHAINS

7. BESO DE LA MUERTE

8. SWAN DIVE

9. SPEAKING IN TONGUES

10. AFTERLIFE

11. REAP WHAT YOU SOW

12. ETERNAL WAR

Australian metal heavyweights The Amity Affliction are back with their ninth studio album 'House Of Cards', released April 24th via Pure Noise Records, their first release with new bassist/co-lead vocalist Jonathan Reeves of Kingdom Of Giants.

'VIDA NUEVA' intros the album with a piano refrain akin to John Carpenter's Halloween theme, drenched with electronic and industrial sounds, segueing nicely into 'KICKBOXER', which is an all out assault, perhaps the heaviest and most aggressive that TAA have gone. Joel Birch's screams are jaw-dropping, taking the usual amount of personal pain and sending things to the stratosphere. We aren't given an example of newbie Reeves' vocals, but his bass skills are certainly up to snuff, keeping up with Dan Brown and Joe Longobardi's frantic guitars and drums, especially in the breakdown.

Lead single 'HOUSE OF CARDS' dials back the aggression slightly to the sound that the band have become famous for, and we get our first taste of Reeves' cleans. He's undeniably a good singer, but in all honesty I'm not 100% sure about his place in the group, and his vocals don't stand out that much to me. He works well enough against Birch's screams, which are once again phenomenal, but when on his own, I find something to be a bit lacking. The lyrics are again very personal, and fit perfectly into the pocket that the band creates. It's fast paced and energetic as you'd expect.

Most recent single 'HEAVEN SENT' doesn't allow things to let up, throwing an intricate riff from Brown backed subtly by strings at us before Birch's growls come crashing back in. It very much feels like a continuation of 'HOUSE OF CARDS', and I'm very much into that vibe. Reeves and Birch once again play off each other nicely, and I don't have as much of that feeling of lacking that the previous track gave me, but it's not completely gone. Longobardi puts in a pitch perfect shift, accenting things beautifully, especially in the breakdown with some insanely impressive double kick control.

The second single to be released, and last song on the album released prior, 'BLEED' takes on a more industrial fused sound, keeping that aggressive delivery from Birch going, with Brown, Reeves, and Longobardi keeping things extremely tight together to back it up. There are good moments of respite, with an electronic voice repeating "I bleed the way I bleed", used again in the breakdown as a phenomenal callout, with Birch giving absolutely everything. It's another track without any of Reeves' cleans, and, in the nicest way possible, it is very noticeable, not because it lacks anything.

'BREAK THESE CHAINS' reverses this and puts Reeves' cleans in the spotlight for the intro, and this I can truly say this is the first moment that they've felt they truly belong. Birch comes crashing back in to take over, and there are some great brief moments of back and forth between the two throughout that work really well. Yet another spot-on breakdown, and then a really good moment purely of Reeves' vocal delivering the song title to finish the track.

'BESO DE LA MUERTE' is a very atmospheric interlude, giving more of a respite from the heavy with long drawn-out synths and a piano refrain with glimpses of Birch's vocals. Truthfully, I think it could've been condensed slightly as an extended intro for 'SWAN DIVE' and it would have the same effect.

Speaking of 'SWAN DIVE', it begins on a very Parkway Drive-esque echoing riff from Brown, with some anthemic chanting screams from Birch, giving way to a near-complete drop out with a dynamic that really lets Reeves shine with his cleans before trading verses with Birch. Yet another strong breakdown, with each member completely dialled in, especially in the longer, breathy screams.

'SPEAKING IN TONGUES' carries the momentum forward, tossing the industrial intro aside with a vicious, stabbing attack of a first verse. Like I said previously with 'KICKBOXER', this is another example of TAA going even heavier, and even angrier. The lyrics are full of spite and bile, even in the cleans, and, simply put, it is absolutely glorious

'AFTERLIFE' throws you right back in at that same deep end, with a stop-start riff that leaves periods of just screams and drums that are very effective. There's a bit more of call and response in the vocal which is good to see. The piano buildup to the breakdown is very effective, and it may potentially be the heaviest moment on the record with the amazing dichotomy between the short, staccato guitars and the drawn-out screams.

Penultimate track 'REAP WHAT YOU SOW' takes on a dancier quality in the intro, before heading back in the same direction we've been going for the past 10 tracks, but feeling more frenetic, especially with the punk-on-steroids drum beat from Longobardi, before transitioning into another dancier half time clean section. It's another interesting dichotomy that hasn't really been explored in TAA's music before, but I dig it. And another stellar breakdown doesn't hurt either.

Finally we come to 'ETERNAL WAR', which feels absolutely epic in scale from the off with the amount of strings, which persist even after Brown's glitchy riff kicks in. This feels like a grandiose conclusion to the album, and it is undeniably ending things with a bang, especially with the tempo change that just takes things up to eleven. Longobardi is an absolute maniac behind the kit on this one, his calves have to be screaming at him. Birch's screams of "No Peace, Just Pain" before hitting the breakdown with the vitriolic delivery of the song title, and more insane double kick work from Longobardi, things slowly fading out to close the album. This definitely one ups 'AFTERLIFE' for heaviest moment.

I've been listening to The Amity Affliction for a decade now, and it's pretty evident that at first, despite my admiration for Kingdom Of Giants, I was sceptical of Jonathan Reeves coming in to the band. I think I was proved both right and wrong in that scepticism. There are teething issues in the first half of the album, and I think the choice for two of the singles could've been better. However, the band went in with the attitude that they didn't have anything to prove, they simply made the record they wanted to make, and that record is, whilst maybe not immediately being my favourite album they've put out, still fantastic.