Despite Australia’s thriving hardcore scene, there are not many bands with the staying power to progress further than a handful of EPs and a debut album.
Coming up to their tenth year in a scene where the majority of acts don’t even make half that is a feat in itself, and for Amity Affliction’s latest LP to debut at #1 on the ARIA charts is even more impressive.
However, despite these achievements, Chasing Ghosts fails to capitalise on the band’s strengths and rather feels like they are going through the motions and writing songs to a template.
A band of contrasts, songs frequently hop between bellowing screams and soaring melodic vocals. The screams are rough and breakdowns are tight, with the atmospheric synthesiser creating a compelling dynamic that differentiates the group from their hardcore contemporaries.
It is this element of Amity’s sound that is engaging, and there are some genuinely crushing riffs to behold here. The major problem present is inconsistency and disparity within songs.
‘Open Letter’ begins with everything that makes this band worth listening to; emotional synth, enormous breakdowns and a biting verse. This slowly begins to peter out as the song enters the chorus, proceeding to outstay its welcome with a four-and-a-half minute running time.
However, what really lets the album go are the clean vocals, as the melodies struggle to distinguish themselves from song to song.
They are sung at an ear-splitting register and are more often whiny than tuneful. It doesn’t help that these melodic segments are reserved for every chorus on the album, where the song comes to a screeching halt and detours before returning to the sharp, rhythmic bite of the verses. The result is a collection of songs that mush into each other as the album plays through.
If you haven’t liked (or heard) The Amity Affliction in the past, this most definitely isn’t the release that is going to win you over. The band seems to be stagnating in their sound and their execution lacks constraint.
Fans of the band may find something to like here, however there are no tracks that stand out as particularly exhilarating in comparison to older material.
– Andy McCallum
