The Amity Affliction Drop New Album House Of Cards and Kickboxer Video

The Amity Affliction just kicked the door down. Their ninth studio album House of Cards landed yesterday through Pure Noise Records, and alongside it came a live video for Kickboxer that hits exactly as hard as the name suggests. This is the start of a brand new chapter for the Australian post-hardcore heavyweights, and honestly, it's sounding like their heaviest work to date.

A New Lineup, A New Sound

House of Cards is the first Amity record without founding bassist and clean vocalist Ahren Stringer. For those who haven't been following the saga, Stringer initially announced a hiatus in September 2024 after the Let the Ocean Take Me 10-year anniversary tour dates in Australia wrapped up. By January 2025, he confirmed he wouldn't be touring with the band for the foreseeable future. Then in February 2025, the band announced Stringer had been fired, citing "certain behaviours that have been directed at ourselves and those close to us." It got messy. There was even a legal battle between Stringer and frontman Joel Birch over the trademark for the name "Amity."

Stepping into that role is Jonny Reeves, who most people know from Kingdom of Giants. He initially came on as a touring replacement, but by May 2025, the band made it official and brought him on full-time, dropping the standalone single All That I Remember the same day. If you've heard the new record, you already know Reeves fits. He brings a ferocity that pushes the band into genuinely heavy territory.

The Album

The 12-track album was produced by guitarist Dan Brown, marking the first time he handled production duties solo after co-producing Not Without My Ghosts alongside his bandmates back in 2023. The band teased the record with singles including the title track House of Cards, Bleed, and Heaven Sent before the full thing arrived on April 24.

I'll be real, the emotional weight behind this album is significant. Since the last record, Joel Birch lost a close friend to cancer, dealt with his mother passing away after what he's described as a lifetime of neglect, and then went through the entire lineup upheaval with Stringer's departure. All of that is baked into these songs. This isn't a band going through the motions. This is a band processing real grief and real conflict in real time.

The Kickboxer Video

The live video for Kickboxer was filmed during the band's April 13th set at Preserving Underground in New Kensington, PA. Director Tomise put it together using footage from the show along with clips captured by fans in the crowd. The track itself is brutal. Walls of guitars, punishing rhythms, and Reeves delivering death metal growls that hit different in a live setting. It's arguably one of the heaviest songs The Amity Affliction have ever put out, and watching a room full of people lose their minds to it just confirms how well this new lineup translates on stage.

The Spring Horizons Tour

The Amity Affliction are currently in the middle of the Spring Horizons Tour, co-headlining North America with August Burns Red. Boundaries and HEAVENSGATE are opening. Joel Birch has been vocal about how long this pairing has been in the works, saying the band has been talking about touring with ABR for years and calling it "one of the best tours we've been a part of."

The tour kicked off April 10 in Worcester, MA and runs through May 17 in Philadelphia, PA. Here are the remaining dates:

4/25 — San Diego, CA @ Soma

4/26 — Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

4/28 — Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24

4/29 — Garden City, ID @ Revolution Concert House

5/1 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center

5/2 — Denver, CO @ The Fillmore

5/3 — Omaha, NE @ The Astro Theater

5/5 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore

5/6 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave

5/8 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre

5/9 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

5/10 — Toronto, ON @ History

5/12 — Montreal, QC @ Mtelus

5/13 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount

5/15 — Baltimore, MD @ Nevermore Hall

5/16 — Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple (August Burns Red & The Amity Affliction only)

5/17 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore

Tickets are available now through Live Nation.

What's Next

After the North American run wraps up, The Amity Affliction are heading to South America with a stop in Ciudad de México before picking things back up in September for a European and UK run that stretches into October. They're not slowing down.

Honestly, if you haven't checked in on this band since the lineup change, now is the time. House of Cards is streaming everywhere right now. Go listen to it, then go grab tickets to one of these remaining Spring Horizons dates before they sell out. This lineup is not messing around.

Cover photo courtesy of Ticketmaster