''Severed Ties'' is the debut studio album by Australian

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band

the Amity Affliction The Amity Affliction is an Australian post-hardcore band from Gympie, Queensland, formed in 2003. The band's current line-up consists of Joel Birch (lead vocals), Dan Brown (guitar), Jonathan Reeves (bass, vocals) and Joe Longobardi (drums). Th ...

. It was released on 4 October 2008 through

Boomtown Records Boomtown Records was an independent record label founded by Jaddan Comerford in October 2002 and based in Melbourne, Australia. In 2011 the label was rebranded with Staple Management to new company, UNFD. History The label was established by ...

, which debuted at No. 26 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, and No. 6 on the related Australian Artists Albums Chart. The album was the last release to feature guitarist Chris Burt and the first to feature drummer Ryan Burt.

Background

"Poison Pen Letters" was re-recorded for ''Severed Ties'', it originally appeared on the demo compilation, ''State of Affairs'' – a collection of tracks by hardcore bands from the five mainland states of Australia. "

Love Is a Battlefield "Love Is a Battlefield" is a song by American singer Pat Benatar, released on September 12, 1983, as a single from Benatar's live album '' Live from Earth'' (1983), though the song itself was a studio recording. It was written by Holly Knight an ...

" is a cover of a track by

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (née Andrzejewski; formerly and still professionally Benatar ; born January 10, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and 15 US ''Billboa ...

. Three tracks contained samples from feature films, however due to copyright restrictions, the then-active label of

Boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

was forced to remove them. The first few thousand copies printed of the album retained the samples: "I Heart Roberts'" contains one from the film, ''

Hot Rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimized for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and ma ...

'', "The Blair Snitch Project" had a sample from ''

True Romance ''True Romance'' is a 1993 American romantic crime film directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. It features an ensemble cast led by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt ...

'' in its intro, and "Stairway to Hell" contains sound samples from ''Hot Rod'' and ''

Happy Gilmore ''Happy Gilmore'' is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, produced by Robert Simonds, and starring Adam Sandler in the title role, with Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Carl Weathers. The film follows the namesak ...

''. The group's insider joke is in the

initialism An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps wi ...

, "B.D.K.I.A.F.", which stands for "Big Dick Know It All Fuck"; while "Do You Party?" is a reference to a joke in ''Hot Rod''.

Track listing

Personnel

;The Amity Affliction *Joel Birch –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, Singing">clean vocals Clean may refer to: * Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment * Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt Arts and media Music Al ...

Background

Track listing

Personnel

References