Australian metalcore trailblazers THE AMITY AFFLICTION — Joel Birch [vocals], Ahren Stringer [vocals, bass], Dan Brown [lead guitar], and Jon Longobardi [drums] — have announced their new album Not Without My Ghosts, out May 12 via Pure Noise Records. To celebrate the news, the band has shared the video for “It’s Hell Down Here.”
The track address mortality — a topic frequented several times on the album. It also boasts the vocal dynamics and pummeling breakdowns that are the band’s signatures.
“This song is a a letter from myself and Ahren, written by me, to our friends who have passed on to the other side,” Birch shares.
He continues, “I’m 41. I’m bipolar. And I’m pretty tired of it. That’s where lyrics like ‘Like a snake I tire / the cold dark clouds, they steal my light’ come from. The song is wrapping up how I feel daily, and reflecting on the time leading up to my friend killing himself. I’m sure a lot of people who have experienced that guilt at not seeing what becomes glaringly obvious after the fact.”
The album boasts multiple features — something the band has not incorporated into a release in quite some time — including late New Zealand rapper Louie Knuxx, who passed away in 2021, as well as Comeback Kid’s Andrew Neufeld, The Plot in You’s Landon Tewers, and Phem.
The Amity Affliction will also appear at several festivals this year, including Louder Than Life in September and Aftershock in October.
Since emerging in 2008 with their debut Severed Ties, Australian powerhouse The Amity Affliction have consistently delivered. They’ve tallied over a billion streams worldwide, clocked four No. 1 records, have earned multiple Gold and Platinum certifications in their home country, and enjoyed a string of Top 30-charting albums on Billboard. They’ve also received critical accolades from Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, The Noise, and more. Throughout their career, The Amity Affliction have remained a featured attraction on some of the biggest festivals in the world — from Download UK, Reading and Leeds, Vans Warped Tour, Rock am Ring, Rock im park, Graspop, Sonic Temple, Welcome to Rockville, Hellfest, Slam Dunk, Jera on Air, and more! The band has sold out countless headline treks and have hit the road with everyone from A Day to Remember to Motionless in White to Silverstein to Sum 41 to Beartooth to PVRIS. New album Not Without My Ghosts arrives in Spring 2023.
