by DAN SOUTHALL
ALBUM re-records can be a contentious subject. Fans tend to like what they hear the first time around, not once an artist is free of contractual label distractions and demands and with the rights to their own music. But these re-records still happen. The Amity Affliction aren’t the first and certainly won’t be the last band to do this. The big question is: how did they go re-evaluating one of their most popular albums?
The very first thing that stand out on album opener ‘Pittsburgh’ is the immediacy of the material. Gone is the polish and in comes an urgency that a track dealing with a mental breakdown deserves. The only thing missing from one of their most famous tracks this time around is the choir that reassured the listener that everything will be ok. Instead, this time the band use lush female vocals with a little less melancholy, keeping up the opening immediacy of the track.
This urgency and immediacy is held tight throughout the album, but particularly make themselves obvious on the albums biggest moments such as ‘Don’t Lean On Me’ and ‘Never Alone’. As well as the lack of sheen, this is the grittiest The Amity Affliction have ever sounded and it suits the hardcore elements they have long skirted around until leaning heavily into it on their last album. The only time you are reminded of what you are listening to is the still sugary sweet clean vocals of bassist Ahren Stringer, sometimes becoming as much of a distraction as a break in the heavier musical moments.
This is the sound of a band taking hold of their legacy and giving it a bloody great shake. It isn’t really going to gain them new fans, but I am willing to bet it is going to get some of the older fans that began to fall away with the original release of the album to have their interest peaked and return to them.
