A new report out of Blunt has added a significant financial dimension to what was already a messy public split: The Amity Affliction was reportedly carrying approximately $646,000 AUD (roughly $456,000 USD) in debt last year, and that financial entanglement appears to be a central reason why the band's separation from bassist Ahren Stringer has remained unresolved.
The Debt Situation
The figures come from corporate filings for the band's internal business arrangement, obtained by Blunt. According to that reporting, the majority of the debt is owed to the Australian Taxation Office — not to a label or external creditor, which has its own implications for priority and enforcement. The band's company agreed to a restructuring plan that will see them repay $512,000 of that debt from future income, over a term of roughly three years.
Both frontman Joel Birch and Stringer signed off on that restructuring plan. That's notable: a man who has been publicly firing from the band he co-founded still signing financial documents on its behalf, because the business relationship has not been formally dissolved.
Stringer remains a co-owner and director of the company behind The Amity Affliction despite no longer being in the band.
The Stringer Timeline
The Amity Affliction officially announced Stringer's departure in February 2025. What followed was anything but clean. Stringer pushed back on the framing almost immediately — stating he was kicked out, not that he left — and confirmed he had initiated legal action against Birch over rights to The Amity Affliction trademarks. He also disputed public characterizations of his exit, specifically rejecting claims that drug addiction played a role.
The trademark dispute adds another layer. If Stringer retains co-ownership of the company and has contested the trademark rights, any resolution requires both parties to agree — and the debt restructuring plan, which ties both their signatures, suggests there is no clean separation yet.
As Blunt observed, the debt makes a lump-sum buyout (the typical mechanism for cleaning up a partnership departure) logistically difficult. If the band's company is servicing roughly $512,000 in tax debt over three years, there isn't a lot of flexibility for additional large payments. "That kind of setup doesn't suggest a band on the verge of disappearing," the report noted, "but it does suggest one that doesn't have the flexibility to make big financial moves quickly."
What It Means Going Forward
The Amity Affliction are still active — they released House of Cards in 2025 and have been touring. The debt situation, on its own, is not unusual for a touring rock band operating at their level. What makes it notable here is the timing: it surfaced alongside a contentious departure and a legal dispute, in a way that illuminates why the clean break that usually follows a band firing a member hasn't happened.
Stringer called the situation "kinda messy." Corporate filings showing $646,000 AUD owed to the tax authority and a co-owner who is also suing over trademark rights confirms that characterization is accurate, if understated.
No public statement has been issued by the band or Stringer regarding the Blunt report. The restructuring plan runs approximately three years, which means this is not resolving quickly.
Band Background and Current Status
The Amity Affliction formed in Cairns, Queensland in 2003. They've been one of the most commercially successful Australian metalcore exports — multiple ARIA Chart number ones, festival headlining slots across Australia and the UK, and a consistent international fanbase built over two decades. Stringer co-founded the band and served as bassist and one of the primary vocalists alongside Joel Birch. His voice and dynamic with Birch were core to the band's identity across albums like Let the Ocean Take Me (2014) and This Could Be Heartbreak (2016).
The fact that Stringer's exit has remained structurally unresolved for over a year — and that new reporting is still surfacing significant details — suggests the business side of Australian metalcore bands can be as complicated as anywhere else in the industry.
Bands at this tier often operate on founder partnership agreements that made sense in 2005 but become complex when a two-decade institutional relationship ends under dispute. Trademark rights, ATO obligations, and co-directorship don't dissolve overnight. The three-year repayment timeline means this situation will still be legally active in 2028.
In the meantime, The Amity Affliction have continued touring and releasing material. Stringer has not announced a new band project publicly.
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