Album Review: The Amity Affliction - Let The Ocean Take Me

Frontman Joel Birch will happily tell you that this record is for him. Us fans got ours with 2012's Chasing Ghosts; Let The Ocean Take Me, instead, is his chance to purge, the bespectacled screamer revealing more details regarding his personal battles than ever before.

Whether he's singing about near-death experiences on Pittsburgh, the pressures of his role as an anti-suicide advocate on Don't Lean On Me or his own depressive self-loathing on F.M.L., you're swallowed by his emotions, with aquatic metaphors tying the lyrics together naturally. But these messages are delivered via genuine anthems, heard no clearer than on the two-prong closing attack of Forest Fire and Give It All. Recent full-time addition Dan Brown (Confession) seems to have brought the best out of long-standing songwriters Ahren Stringer (bass) and Troy Brady (guitar), with the sonics complementing the verses better than ever before.

There aren't a great number of surprises here for fans – you'll hear voices from Sunshine Beach State High School in full choir mode, while orchestral production touches play on the epic nature of these songs and the dramatic themes behind them. But Amity have never claimed to be experimental mavericks. They have a distinct sound, they do what they do incredibly well, and on Let The Ocean Take Me they've jacked up all those trademark elements – the ruthless breakdowns, soaring clean choruses and emotional keyboard lines – to deliver a record that adds to an already rock-solid catalogue.