The Amity Affliction | 2012 | Metalcore | 10 Tracks (~40ish Minutes)
I hit a low in college.
I felt desroyed by a toxic relationship. A partner who assumed complete control over my life. He ruined me mentally and made me think that I couldn't exist without him. He would hit me if I stayed out a minute past 8PM. He didn't care if I didn't want to have sex, I would either let him or he would hit me and berate me until I let him get what he wanted. He was more important than anything in the world because he would kill me if I didn't behave for him. He put me in a living hell.
My grades were slipping out from under me. I couldn't focus in most classes. I couldn't seek tutoring for others because my partner saw seeking help as a "sign of stupidity", something he would punish. My attendance was horrible. My parent was going to be disappointed when I went home for Christmas break, there was no way I could get them to give me $7,500 to retake everything. I was blowing my opportunity.
I was stuck. I was going to fail. I was going to disappoint yet another person. I was going to be more of a waste of cash. I already struggled with confidence, now I was actually going to blow my opportunity to better myself. I couldn't see my friends. I wasn't going to amount to anything. Death seemed like the answer and I held hands with it for a bit, all of half an hour away from going into a frozen lake with no intent on returning. I wouldn't be here today if I a little voide didn't break me down and force me to realize what I was doing.
A few days after my attempt, the abusive now-ex gone from my life as I told the campus what was happening and got moved to a different building, a buddy came to visit me. He brought me a salad and a box. He told me that he was glad I didn't end things and that people were scared. I was so trapped that I didn't know people noticed I was missing from the clubs I enjoyed and the classes I was enrolled in. I told him how the ex-partner broke my mind. He listened. He understood. It felt really nice.
A bit after he left I ate the food he brought me and opened that box.
It had a note and a few CDs in it.
Chasing Ghosts is the first album I ever heard by The Amity Affliction. It was one of those CDs in the box my buddy passed me. It was really rough the first time I even saw it, the cover mixed with the subject across the album was just tough for me, but it's without a doubt one of my favorite albums because of how much the contents meant to me at the time when I was given it.
Mentioning "the subject across the album", the themes here are pretty consistent. The tracks talk about things like:
I could see someone complaining that songs stick to the same ideas a bit too much but I really have no issue with it, I like that the album sticks to the concept and how it goes about rolling through its little set of tracks.
On the idea of complaints, my one real complaint would be what I briefly mentioned above, "the cover" meaning the cover art of the album. It's a guy hanging from a tree. I understand why it's there, the album deals with the topic of suicide/the lyrics reference the idea/it sets you up for the first few tracks that are supposed to be the perspective of someone who took their own life but only found regret on the other side. It's just a bit hard to look at. My personal solution when I first got the disc was just kinda throwing a piece of red paper in front of the album art, a little bit cut out to see the title. I don't have that piece of paper there any more but I still open the case kinda fast just to avoid dwelling on things.
Flowerbomb is my favorite track off the album by far. I doubt it's gonna be the one that many other people pick, hell I have no idea if they've ever even played the track live, but that's fine. There's something about the whole I swear I'm past that and I'll swear, if you will, that I will not look back thing that just hits. I was at my low but I've made it through, I'm getitng out of it, and even if some days are kinda tough I know that I've broke out of where I was. I'm no longer being forced into a corner and abused, instead I'm doing things I love. I may still have my issues but I'm in a better place.
I do enjoy the two direct "concept tracks" as I guess you could call them, Chasing Ghosts and Life Underground being the ones that go directly off the album art. Both tracks have some lines that hit damn hard, the "Are you just hoping that someone will greive?" at the end of the chorus on the former really standing out to me because I know damn well that it's what I was thinking.
I still have no damn clue why the 9th track is called Geof Sux 666 but it's another one that I keep in a playlist or two, mostly because the second verse. I knew I was going to be good when my friends came to help me once they found out what had happened. These days I know I'll be alright because I have all sorts of nice people who chat with me, check up on me, listen to me when I feel down, and don't treat me like shit for being the mess I somtimes am. Friends really are nice to have.
I remember kinda disliking Pabst Blue Ribbon On Ice for a while because the vocal style felt odd but nah, I like it these days. It's kinda pretty and sure it's "just another "hey remember that you're loved" track from the band who makes hundreds of them" but hey, I can use those every now and then.
Nothing against any tracks that weren't mentioned on here, I have no actual skips on the album, I just don't have a ton to really say about 'em. It's a damn good album and I'll always have a really soft spot for it as "that thing that helped me realize I wasn't going to die".
I really have no idea if there's any way in text to get across how much this means without oversharing but whatever, that's fine. Like I said, this is one of the most important albums to me that exists.
I'm really glad that it was given to me, I'm really glad that I listened through it, and I'm really glad that I'm still here.
Bonus Thing: Because I don't know if I'll ever make a page on Let The Ocean Take Me, I just wanna take a minute down here to say that the first two tracks off the next album are amazing. Pittsburgh is just really fucking good and Death's Hand is one of my favorite tracks to see a band perform live. There's just something about being in a whole crowd interacting with the band that's awesome, Pittsburgh always gets everyone singing the chorus and then screaming "hey death, get fucked" feels really good.
On that idea, if you ever get the shot to see these guys live, please check 'em out! They don't really perform many tracks from this album any more but that's alright, their newer material is pretty sick. I saw them most recently to writing this page (December 9th, '23) at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, the lineup for the day was Make Them Suffer/Northlane/The Amity Affliction/Parkway Drive and each band put on an amazing show.