You’ll find a fair bit of this new electronica in The Amity Affliction’s tracklist as well – in addition to their already stellar vocal work and some interesting new spins on their usual instrumental sound. This new direction rockets the album, and the band, forward.
The themes Amity held to in nearly all their prior releases – of sadness, struggle and the crushing weight of life – are all still in full swing here, maybe even more so than before.
The electronic elements don’t interfere or cancel out any of the other instrumental work. They don’t power through and overshadow, instead, they complement or fill in a blank that such instruments simply can’t.
Joel Birch and Ahren Stringer’s vocals are superb, and the guitar work has improved massively since Dan Brown took the lead, bringing forth an even deeper and heavier sound than before.
Driving riffs (especially the opening thunder on ‘Beltsville Blues’) and beautiful-drum-work weaves itself through the album to an almost artisanal degree. Misery is a work of art. You’d all do yourselves a favour to listen to it.
9/10
