Music Review: Stacked Deck: 'House of Cards' is a Winning Hand for Amity Affliction

"The Amity Affliction" has returned with their eagerly anticipated release, "House of Cards." It's been three years since their previous release, excluding the 2024 redux of "Let The Ocean Take Me." Much has changed in the band during this time. They welcomed bassist/vocalist Jonathan Reeves, who replaced Ahren Stringer. I was curious to see how the band's chemistry would evolve and whether Jonanthan Reeves' clean vocals would match or surpass Ahren's.

Overall, “House of Cards” is a really good album by “The Amity Affliction.” It features some of their heaviest work to date, with a tone distinct from any of their previous albums. They trade the clean, polished sound that enhanced Ahren's vocals for a rawer sound that highlights Jonathan's voice. My only minor complaint is that the album feels somewhat safe. While they do experiment with textures and setting a mood, the instrumentals themselves, I felt, were lacking in standout moments, resulting in a lack of creativity throughout the album.

The opening track “Vida Nueva” sets the tone for the listeners. It’s a dark, eerie, atmospheric track that feels like you have opened a portal to another realm. If you’ve played DOOM, you know exactly what I mean. “Vida Nueva” sets a tone and flows seamlessly into “Kickboxer.”

“Kickboxer” opens with backing tracks of a girl's voice saying “all I wanted was a kiss,” and out of nowhere, we hear Joel’s raw vocals screaming “kiss of death.” As soon as I heard his vocals and the guitar tone, I knew this was going to be heavy, but I wasn’t ready for how heavy. The djent guitar riff and the backing textures continue the haunting feeling from “Vida Nueva.” Joel’s vocals and lyrics stand out in the track, with his delivery being menacing and the lyrics diving into religious disillusionment. “Kickboxer” is a powerful kickstart to the album.

“House of Cards” takes a less aggressive approach than the previous tracks but still contains the cinematic textures. This is where the listeners get to hear Jonanthan’s cleans for the first time, and they don’t disappoint. The raw sound and tone complement both Jonathan's and Joel's vocal performances, and the exchange between singing and screaming is executed effectively. "House of Cards" showcases TAA's distinctive modern metalcore style, which merges intense heavy breakdowns, melodic guitar work, uplifting choruses, and lyrics that are both beautiful and dark.

“Heaven Sent” continues the less aggressive tone approach with backing strings in the intro but quickly switches to a more aggressive riff showcasing Joel’s raw vocals. The standout parts in this track are the lyrics that tell a story of a confusing cycle of at-home abuse with the opening lyrics “When his burning cigarette was put out on my arm / you said, I love you, son I said, I love you, mum.” Right away you feel Joel’s battle of love and pain with his childhood upbringing, but by the end of the song, you feel as if a weight has been lifted off of him. The other standout part in “Heaven Sent” is the breakdown and drummer Joe Longobardi's double bass control. It’s truly incredible, and I hope I can hear/watch him play it live.

“Bleed” is an unapologetic, raw, aggressive, powerful F You punch in the face. This 3:40 track is crushing from start to finish and has a unique electric sound hidden within the metalcore riffs. I also like the weird A.I. Siri/Alexa-style voice that repeats the phrase “I bleed the way I bleed” that can be found throughout the track. I can envision this being used live before going into the song to hype up the crowd. But the standout part in this track is the breakdown, and all I can say is wow. This is the heaviest breakdown ever written by “The Amity Affliction,” and Joe’s double kick in this breakdown adds to the heaviness. This is another track I want to see performed live to watch Joe’s drumming and also see a wall of death from the crowd during this section.

“Break These Chains” starts out as a ballad with Johnathan’s cleans but quickly changes with Joel’s raw screams and the metalcore riffs. The lyrics continue to dive into Joel Birch's childhood trauma with the passing of his mother and how he is trying to break the cycle. This is another classic The Amity Affliction song in how it’s written and delivered instrumentally, but I do feel like Johnathan’s vocal delivery in the chorus is lacking. I feel like this could have been one of the first songs the band wrote and recorded together and was trying to deliver the lyrics like how Ahren would, which is not his style. I think this mixed with a little overproduction makes his vocals feel off. It’s still not a bad song by any means, just might be a song I will like more in a live setting.

“Beso De La Muerte” is another cinematic concept song that complements the intro “Vida Nueva.” I appreciate the synth-driven textures that create atmosphere and maintain a haunting theme throughout the album. Additionally, I enjoy that, if I were listening to this on vinyl, it would mark the beginning of side B, drawing listeners back into the album and leading directly into “Swan Dive.”

“Swan Dive’s” intro reminds me of Parkway Drive with the echoing guitar riff and backing chants. Unlike the previous songs where the lyrical delivery was met with a punch to the face, “Swan Dive” lets the emotional exhaustion come through in the lyrical delivery. Joe’s drum groove in the second verse is a standout with his hi-hat snare kick drum pattern with accent hits on a splash. It’s catchy while adding energy to the song where the vocals are lacking the energy for the emphasis on emotional exhaustion. If Joe didn’t add this drum part, I do think the vocal delivery would pull me out of the song in the second verse. This song is a solid radio-friendly hit that has the classic TAA writing and sound while showcasing some of the elements that the album brings.

“Speaking in Tongues” has a unique eerie texture in the intro, but Joe’s kick drum pattern has a bouncy machine gun style approach. The best way to describe it is that these two things should not work together but somehow do. This, mixed with Joel’s raw and aggressive vocals, makes me want to jump, kick, and punch as if I were in a pit. Jothnathan’s vocal delivery in the chorus brings a melodic dim tone to offset Joel’s aggressiveness in the verses, making the song feel whole and complete. The lyrics in the outro are what stood out to me the most: “Born to be broken / unfit to be loved / possessed by the devil? / or speaking in tongues?” Hearing Joel scream this sent chills down my spine and made me pause the album to let it sink in before moving on.

“Afterlife” leans into a more atmospheric approach compared to the intense track “Kickboxer.” Jothnathan’s cleans in the chorus shine throughout the track, having a soothing tone that provides a sense of feeling weightless, which in a way adds weight to the heaviness in the instrumentals and in the lyrics that talk about the rejection of the traditional religious idea of heaven. The breakdown/outro in this song might actually be my favorite breakdown of the album. They trade in chugs for a djent rhythm breakdown that makes your stank face go from a 3 to a 10 really quick. It adds an aggressive element to the song while maintaining the atmospheric tones and textures found throughout the song.

“Reap What You Sow” opens with a haunting EDM style that reminds me of that '08 crabcore synth found in bands like Abandon All Ships, but quickly shifts to the raw aggressive tones found throughout the previous tracks. This song balances aggression and vulnerability with anger in the instrumentals and raw vocals, but a beautiful sadness found within the lyrics. This is my favorite track off of “House of Cards” because it has it all from The Amity Affliction: aggressive in-your-face verses, double-time pre-chorus for your circle pit lovers, breakdowns that manage to be heavier than the verse, a sing-along chorus, and lyrics that listeners will reflect on. I also think this is one of the best-written choruses and vocal delivery by both Joel and Jothnathan, and Joe’s drumming, who does a fantastic job complementing the vocals and guitar work.

"Eternal War" was not what I anticipated. "The Amity Affliction" typically includes a slower track to balance the intensity of their albums. Seeing the title, I assumed this would be the slower song, but I was completely mistaken. "Eternal War" is pure aggression and serves as the intense and emotional conclusion to the narrative of "House of Cards." In reality, it's the ideal way to close the album and the chapter of Joel's storytelling, reflecting on his childhood and his mother's passing.

The production and mastering of “House of Cards” are executed excellently. The track features a variety of elements and textures, and although it can occasionally feel overwhelming, it remains clean with the refined raw sound typical of metalcore. Great job, and I'm eager to hear more from this production and mastering team.

“House of Cards” is a solid album from “The Amity Affliction”; however, I don’t think it’s going to bring in new listeners to the band or to the metalcore genre in general. That being said, I want to hear almost all of these songs live, and I think a lot of people who already listen to TAA will agree with me. I have been a fan since I saw them open up for Breathe Carolina, The Ready Set, and For All Those Sleeping back in 2012 when they were touring with “Youngbloods,” and I can say that they have aged like fine wine.

"House of Cards" is now available for streaming everywhere. See "The Amity Affliction" on their current U.S. tour with Boundaries, Heavensgate, and Dreamwake, running until May 17th. Later this year, they will tour the EU/UK from September 18th to October 13th alongside Silent Planet, Varials, and Orthodox.