Album Review: The Amity Affliction - Chasing Ghosts

There has been great hype surrounding the anticipated third album from Australia's favourite post hardcore act The Amity Affliction over the past couple of months, mainly about the band having been wrought with problems, from the controversial cover art to the band searching for a second guitarist, and despite all this the band has managed to already sell out tour dates.

First single, Chasing Ghosts, has a quick fade in of synths before a frenzy of drums, guitars and melodic vocals, and hits a similar mark to what I Hate Hartley did for Youngbloods. The middle section features an impressive breakdown, but lacks somewhat the punch of previous breakdowns. Pabst Blue Ribbon On Ice is less conventional and shows signs of true originality, whilst Flowerbomb and Green Avenue are almost pop-like in their delivery, with uptempo beats and bouncing guitars. Second Single, RIP Bon, builds on a intense guitar riff, concentrating predominately on a sparser, more open sound, at times sounding more electronic than guitar based.

It's evident a lot of time went into recording Chasing Ghosts and the end result, sonically, is somewhat lifeless. The auto-tune on Ahren Stringer's clean vocals is overwhelming, and each song is rhythmically stunted by being too precise.

Chasing Ghosts, whilst not a step up from Youngbloods, is at least a step sideways on a similar path and direction to that which thrust them into the spotlight, and the songs here are some of the strongest the band has written.