Album Review: The Amity Affliction - 'High Hopes (EP/DVD)'

The wait for Amity’s newest EP has been well worth it because this record is a contender for Australian release of the year! Although it only contains 5 tracks, “High Hopes” is the work of a band who has found the perfect balance of melody and heaviness.

Opening track “I Heart Throbsy” kicks the record off in fine style. It’s heavy without relying on repetitive breakdowns and Ahren’s clean vocals give the song a vocal hook that most bands spend years trying to write. The addition of keys has definitely filled out Amity’s sound and although the effects and keyboard parts aren’t overly dominate, they do give the songs an almost ambient feel that wasn’t present on their previous recordings.

“R.I.P. Steggy” reminds me of older “I Killed The Prom Queen” material. The thick riffs and production job courtesy of Ang @ Soundhouse (funnily enough where IKTPQ recorded their debut full length) really does the band’s sound justice – it’s heavy without being overbearing (and potentially alienating some of Amity’s more melody loving fans) and catchy without coming off as cheesy.

By far my favourite song on the record is “Straight Up”. A demo of this track has been floating around on the internet for a few months now (and getting a flogging on my ipod) but the final product just kills the original version. If I had to choose one song to summarize Amity, then this would be it. Joel and Ahren’s vocal interplay is excellent, the music is upbeat but forceful at the same time and the gang vocals will no doubt make this a crowd pleaser.

While “Dong Wayne” uses a fairly straight forward metal riff to start off with, Amity somehow avoid sounding cliché and make the song sound as unique as anything else they’ve written.

“Cut It Out” is a great way to close out the record. In a recent interview Joel said that the song was written as a reaction to the increasing number of kids who are self harming. Lyrically, the track is more straight forward than anything else on the EP but it sends a powerful message nonetheless.

As I mentioned earlier, the EP comes with a bonus DVD which shows some live footage and some quick interviews with members of the band. It would’ve been cool to have some actual live audio rather than the footage being run over the top of a recorded song, but it’s still a cool incentive for kids to go buy the record. Definitely worth watching just to see the band getting absolutely maggoted.