Single Slam – Ivy (Doomsday) by The Amity Affliction (Misery)

Australian metalcore band, The Amity Affliction, have released a new single called Ivy (Doomsday) along with an announcement about their new album. The album will be called Misery and it will come out on the 24th of August, released via Roadrunner Records.

Misery will be the band’s 6th full length studio album following on from 2016’s This Could be Heartbreak. An album we at GBHBL do not think much of at all, as you can read here. To say I wasn’t bothered about the news of a new album would be an understatement but I am intrigued to see if the band have grown or evolved in any way since their drab, last release.

There was another change to the line-up in between This Could be Heartbreak and the release of this single with drummer Ryan Burt going on hiatus to deal with health issues. I am assuming he finished recording the drums for Misery before leaving. Line up changes are part and parcel of The Amity Affliction with a massive 10 changes to the band over the 5 album releases so far. With Burt being on hiatus, rather than leaving, he hasn’t been replaced and instead is now just covered by touring members with Casey McHale, Troy Wright and Joseph Arrington all having a crack at it.

Not on hiatus, in the band on keys, bass and backing vocals, we have founding member Ahren Stringer. On vocals, clean and harsh is Joel Birch and on guitars and backing vocals we have Dan Brown.

Ivy (Doomsday) is just over 3 and a half minutes long and is pretty bad. A nice melody starts the track off before it becomes completely bastardised by some weird keyboard/synth effects. This sound builds and as you expect the music to kick in with some ferocity, instead it drops with a whimper. Gentle drums, sorrowful clean singing and the occasional guitar melody make for a pretty uninspiring listen so far.

Surprisingly it gets softer before the inevitable kick in with the drums dropping out replaced by a simple, but nice keyboard melody. Then comes the expected kick in for the chorus. It doesn’t exactly get heavy, just louder with Birch getting close to harsh vocals but sounding more hoarse. The same structure is repeated then for the second verse into second chorus. As the song progresses it leaves me with mixed feelings. Every time I think the heaviness is coming, I get a weak and messy sounding synth section instead and then, finally, when it ramps up with a breakdown lite, the strong sounding heavy vocals are separated by a keys melody that lacks power.

Ivy (Doomsday) is not for me. There are way too many flaws in my mind. Despite the vocals being well sung, the verses are insanely boring. The guitars are left in the cold for even the heavier moments of the track with it being keys and synth front and centre. The breakdown is destroyed by the unimaginative and repetitive keyboard melodies within it. There just isn’t much to enjoy here. Still, opinions will differ so check it out, it may be your thing. It isn’t mine.

The Amity Affliction are in the UK on tour in October so visit here to grab tickets for those shows.

Ivy (Doomsday) is available on all the usual streaming services, like Apple Music and Spotify now. You can preorder Misery from Roadrunner, here. You can also grab this, and more from the band at the Amazon links below. Find out more about The Amity Affliction by visiting them at their website, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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