Aespa - "Armageddon" MV Review

Aespa's first full album, Armageddon, has finally landed on Earth. The album features 10 songs, including the two title tracks and lead singles "Supernova" (pre-released on May 13) and "Armageddon."

"Supernova"

Length: 2:59.

Lyrics: Kenzie.

Music: Kenzie, Paris Alexa, and Dem Jointz.

Arrangement: Dem Jointz.

I already did a full review of "Supernova," so this will be more like an update.

Although "Supernova" was extremely catchy the first time I listened to it, it became even catchier over time. Even my family (who doesn't listen to Kpop) are singing "Su-su-su-supernova."

Rating – 10/10

"Armageddon"

Although "Armageddon" is not as catchy as "Supernova" on a first listen, it has a lot of potential to get stuck in your mind, especially the "aw wayo wayo" and "bang chitty bang bang" parts. 

The song feels old-school, especially the melody you can hear throughout the song (for a better example, listen to the post-chorus at 1:10). It's like something I heard before in the early 00s but can't remember, and at the same time, the song feels very futuristic. 

I like the drum beat during the chorus; it sounds very nice, and the instrumental of the bridge (2:15) sounds truly magnificent. The last thing I have to add about the song is that Aespa's vocals are on point (like always).

The MV is a masterpiece; it's so cinematic that it feels as if I was watching a movie -a weird one- especially, the start with Winter covering Karina's mouth and the part where Winter gets her head slammed against the table at 1:19. I loved the different angles used in the video and the part at 2:59 truly blew my mind.

Style-wise, all the outfits are super nice; I have no complaints at all. Karina's choppy bangs look great on her, they go very well with her outfit. 

I really loved the alien-esque outfits featured in the teaser pictures.I was afraid that they were going to appear for only one second, so I'm glad they were featured quite a bit throughout the music video.

Rating

Song – 10/10

MV – 10/10

Choreography – 10/10

Style – 10/10

Overall Rating – 10/10

Song Credits

Release Date: May 27, 2024.

Length: 3 min 17 sec.

Lyrics by: Bang Hye-Hyun (Jam Factory).

Music by: Ejae, Sumin, Waker (153/Joombas), and No Identity.

Arranged by: No Identity.

MV Directed by: Rima Joon (Rigend Film)

"Set the Tone"

Length: 3:23.

Lyrics: Jo Yoon-Kyung.

Music: Ludwig Lindell, Daniel Caesar, and Ylva Dimberg.

Arrangement: Caesar & Loui.

"Set the Tone" has a fantastic beat and flow; it feels so smooth but so energetic at the same time. I love it.

Rating – 10/10

"Mine"

Length: 3:14.

Lyrics: Lee Eun-Hwa (153/Joombas).

Music: Mike Daley, Mitchell Owens, Nicole "KOLE" Cohen, and Adrian McKinnon.

Arrangement: Mike Daley and Mitchell Owens.

The instrumental of "Mine" is good but is quite minimal compared to Aespa's other songs. However, the song still shines thanks to the voices of Aespa, especially during the bridge, which is fantastic.

Rating – 10/10

"Licorice"

Length: 2:39.

Lyrics: Kang Eun-Jeong.

Music: Daniel Davidsen, Peter Wallevik, Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker, and Karen Poole.

Arrangement: PhD.

Track Video Director: Park Cheol-Ho.

"Licorice" is a good song; the beat is very enjoyable.

The track video is super adorable and, in my opinion, enhances the song a lot; I love the homage to Super Sentai/Kamen Raider/Power Rangers or Tokusatsu in general. 

The Aespa-Rangers outfits kind of reminded me of Go-Busters, but when I checked back, I realized I was completely misremembering ﹘ they didn't look similar at all. 😰.

I love the animated scene; it's really well done.

Rating – 10/10

"Bahama"

Length: 3:11.

Lyrics: Kenzie.

Music: Jonatan Gusmark, Ludvig Evers, Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker, Ellen Berg, and Kenzie.

Arrangement: Moonshine and Kenzie.

Although I found "Bahama" to be a bit boring at the start, it grew on me as the song went on. The song feels refreshing, especially in the chorus, which has a summery night vibe.

Rating – 10/10

 "Long Chat (#♥)"

Length: 3:16.

Lyrics: Moon Seol-Li.

Music: Stian Nyhammer Olsen, Live Rabo Lund-Roland, Nora Grefstad, and Julia Finnseter.

Arrangement: Stian Nyhammer Olsen.

Track Video Director: Vin Kim (Kepler Lab).

"Long Chat" is a very cute song. As a side note, I had to take a look at the lyrics because I kept hearing "We are such the empty," and I wondered what it mean. The lyrics actually say "We are such TMT," which left me even more puzzled than before. If you are curious about what "TMT" means (like me!), it stands for "too much text/texting," meaning that the friends in the song are always texting each other.

Like in "Licorice" the track video is extremely adorable; I love how well done the animated scenes are.

"Prologue"

Length: 3:15.

Lyrics: Mola and Mi-Ah (153/Joombas).

Music: Gil Lewis and Micky Blue.

Arrangement: Gil Lewis.

"Prologue" it's not my type of song, but it's still good. I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to it, though!

Rating – 8/10

"Live My Life"

Length: 2:40.

Lyrics: Leslie.

Music: Sophia Brenan, Nick Hahn, and Edvard Erfjord.

Arrangement: Edvard Erfjord.

Track Video Directors: Lee Ho-Jae and Lee Jae-Hyun (Studio Surplus)

The start of "Live My Life" has a slight indie rock vibe that transforms into pop-punkish during the chorus. It took me a little while to warm up to this song, but I ended up enjoying it.

The track video for "Live My Life" is cute, but it isn't as interesting as the previous track videos.

Rating – 9/10

"Melody" (목소리)

Length: 3:08.

Lyrics: Lee O-Neul.

Music: MinGtion and Sophia Pae.

Arrangement: MinGtion.

When I read the song title "Melody," I knew it was going to be a ballad and was expecting it to be rather dull. However, in a case of never judge a book by is cover, "Melody" turned out to be an excellent song. I usually don't like to listen to ballads -it's not that I hate them or anything, I just find the majority to be boring- but "Melody" it's so great that I love it.

Rating – 10/10

Final Thoughts

Armageddon is a fantastic album, I enjoyed the majority of the songs quite a lot. The exception is "Prologue," that, as I wrote above the song it's not a bad song, it's just not my type.

The standouts songs of the album, aside from the title tracks -which I loved- were "Set the Tone" and, unexpectedly for me, "Melody."

I love how Aespa continues to promote their songs through track videos (which in this instance were called "Universe," I just keep using track videos because it makes more sense) I hope that Aespa and SM will release more track videos alongside their future albums/mini albums.

Overall Armageddon Rating – 9.5/10

Photo source: SM Ent.

*The song credits are taken from Armageddon's Wikipedia*