Armageddon (Aespa album)

Armageddon is the first studio album by South Korean girl group Aespa. It was released by SM Entertainment on May 27, 2024, and contains ten tracks including two singles, "Supernova" and "Armageddon".

Background and release
On April 22, 2024, SM Entertainment announced that Aespa would be releasing their first studio album titled Armageddon. It was also announced that the album would feature two singles: "Supernova" and "Armageddon", with the former releasing on May 13 and the latter, along with the album, on May 27. On May 2, the promotional schedule was revealed in a trailer titled "Launch Code". Eight days later, the track listing was revealed alongside a highlight medley teaser video. On May 12, the music video teaser for "Supernova" was released. "Supernova" was released along with its music video on May 13. The teaser videos for "Long Chat", "Licorice", and "Live My Life", were released from May 15 to 17. A CDP version of Armageddon that includes a CD player will be released on July 19.

Composition
Featuring ten tracks, Armageddon, is a pop effort that incorporates various genres of hip hop, dance and ballads. The first track, "Supernova", is a "glittering cosmic" dance and hyper-pop song characterized by "heavy kick and bass", "catchy top line", and "synth melody" with lyrics about "Aespa's expanded world view by comparing the beginning of an event that opens a door to another dimension to a supernova, expressing the beginning of a big explosion". The second track, "Armageddon", is a hip hop and dance song described as "old-school yet trendy track" with a "fluid R&B bridge" and lyrics containing the message that "I can only define myself". The "thumping" tune, "Set the Tone", is a hip-hop track with "exhilarating punches of synthesizers". The fourth song, "Mine", sees the group "reflecting on growing up with fear and feeling like the 'fake portrait' that was their reflection in a 'broken mirror' was 'going to swallow me up'", but ultimately "standing tall" despite their worries.

The fifth track, "Licorice", is a dance song featuring "an addictive churning rock-pop hook" and "vintage electric guitar sound, and strong trap beat". Lyrically, it "compares a person with a strange charm to licorice and wittily expresses the feeling of being drawn to it". The "breezy" mid-tempo pop track, "Bahama", features "sleepy, swooning summer chorus" and "details taking a friend on a trip to the titular island" over "handclaps and sunkissed, sparkling melodies". The seventh track, "Long Chat", is a dance song with lyrics "containing friendly conversations that continue throughout the night". The upbeat pop song, "Prologue", finds the group "address[ing] the difficulties and messiness of growing up, admitting to anxiety, disappointments, and loss of passion". The ninth track, "Live My Life", is a "cheerful guitar-based" pop-punk song containing a message of "living an independent life confidently" with lyrics about "breaking away from the existing framework as there is no right answer in life". The closing track, "Melody", is a piano "fan anthem" dedicated to the group's fans.

Critical reception
Rhian Daly of NME praised the album for falling "into the former camp and reinforces what we already knew – that when Aespa are allowed to run free in the sounds and sonics they've made their trademark, they're nothing short of exquisite". Writing for The Forty-Five, Jenessa Williams appreciated the group's "willingness to experiment with both hard and soft [sounds]", and noted that Aespa "really thrive when they stick to the edgier end of their USP". She furthermore stated that the group's "badass alchemy and attitude might just save the musical world". Rolling Stone India's publisher, Debashree Dutta praised Aespa's "vivid story" and the album's "poetic landscapes" which she described as "a varied and profound auditory experience" filled with "sentiments, moods, and instances woven into each song". Jeff Benjamin of Billboard described the album as "an artistic evolution in Aespa's" discography "by taking their narrative into an expansive multiverse to blur the boundaries between reality and virtual realms".

However, Alexis Petridis of The Guardian described it "all intriguing, and, it has to be said, very well done – Aespa's videos are charming and made to an extraordinarily high standard – yet it can't help but rouse the suspicion that their music might constitute something of an afterthought, a theory not dispelled by actually listening to it."

Commercial performance
On May 27, 2024, it was reported that Armageddon has sold over 1.02 million copies in pre-orders sales.

In China, the album reached number one on the QQ Music digital album sales chart, and was certified as "a double platinum album" within 3 hours of release.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

Studio
 * SM Wavelet Studio – recording (track 1–2, 6, 9), digital editing (track 6, 9–10), engineered for mix (track 10)
 * SM Droplet Studio – recording (track 2, 7), digital editing (track 2), engineered for mix (track 2)
 * SM Yellow Tail Studio – recording (track 3, 5), digital editing (track 1, 3)
 * SM Aube Studio – recording (track 4, 8), digital editing (track 4–5, 8)
 * SM Dorii Studio – recording (track 5, 10)
 * Vibe Music Studio 606 – recording (track 10)
 * The Vibe Studio – recording track 10)
 * SM Big Shot Studio – digital editing (track 7), mixing (track 5, 7)
 * Doobdoob Studio – digital editing (track 7)
 * SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing (track 1–2)
 * SM Blue Cup Studio – mixing (track 3–4)
 * SM Starlight Studio – mixing (track 6, 9–10)
 * SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing (track 8)
 * 821 Sound – mastering (all tracks)

Personnel


 * SM Entertainment – executive producer
 * Lee Sung-soo – A&R executive
 * Tak Young-jun – IP executive, executive supervisor
 * Jang Cheol-hyuk – executive supervisor
 * Aespa – vocals, background vocals (all tracks)
 * Kenzie – producer, arrangement (track 6), lyrics, composition, vocal directing (track 1, 6)
 * Paris Alexa – composition, background vocals (track 1)
 * Dem Jointz – producer, composition, arrangement (track 1)
 * Bang Hye-hyun (Jam Factory) – lyrics (track 2)
 * Ejae – composition, background vocals (track 2)
 * Sumin – composition, background vocals (track 2)
 * Waker (153/Joombas) – composition, piano, programming (track 2)
 * No Identity – producer, composition, arrangement, bass, drums, piano, synthesizer, programming (track 2)
 * Jo Yoon-kyung – lyrics (track 3)
 * Ludwig Lindell (Caesar & Loui) – producer, composition, arrangement (track 3)
 * Daniel Caesar (Caesar & Loui) – producer, composition, arrangement (track 3)
 * Ylva Dimberg – composition (track 3)
 * Lee Eun-hwa (153/Joombas) – lyrics (track 4)
 * Mike Daley – producer, composition, arrangement (track 4)
 * Mitchell Owens – producer, composition, arrangement (track 4)
 * Nicole "KOLE" Cohen – composition (track 4)
 * Adrian McKinnon – composition (track 4)
 * Kang Eun-jeong – lyrics (track 5)
 * Daniel Davidsen (PhD) – producer, composition, arrangement (track 5)
 * Peter Wallevik (PhD) – producer, composition, arrangement (track 5)
 * Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker – composition (track 5–6), background vocals (track 6)
 * Karen Poole – composition (track 5)
 * Jonatan Gusmark (Moonshine) – producer, composition, arrangement (track 6)
 * Ludvig Evers (Moonshine) – producer, composition, arrangement (track 6)
 * Ellen Berg – composition, background vocals (track 6)
 * Moon Seol-li – lyrics (track 7)
 * Stian Nyhammer Olsen – producer, composition, arrangement (track 7)
 * Live Rabo Lund-Roland – composition (track 7)
 * Nora Grefstad – composition (track 7)
 * Julia Finnseter – composition (track 7)
 * Mola – lyrics (track 8)
 * Mi-ah (153/Joombas) – lyrics (track 8)
 * Gil Lewis – producer, composition, arrangement (track 8)
 * Micky Blue – composition (track 8)
 * Leslie – lyrics (track 9)
 * Sophia Brenan – composition (track 9)
 * Nick Hahn – composition (track 9)
 * Edvard Erfjord – producer, composition, arrangement (track 9)
 * Lee O-neul – lyrics (track 10)
 * Sophia Pae – composition (track 10)
 * MinGtion – producer, composition, arrangement, bass, piano (track 10), vocal directing (track 5, 10)
 * Maxx Song – vocal directing (track 2)
 * Saay – vocal directing (track 3)
 * Kim Jin-hwan – vocal directing (track 4, 9)
 * Emily Yeonseo Kim – vocal directing, background vocals (track 7)
 * Perrie – vocal directing (track 8)
 * Park Shin-won – guitar (track 10)
 * Han Seong-eun – strings arrangement (track 10)
 * Yung – strings (track 10)
 * Kang Eun-ji – recording (track 1–2, 6, 9), digital editing (track 6, 9–10), engineered for mix (track 10)
 * Kim Joo-hyun – recording (track 2, 7), digital editing (track 2), engineered for mix (track 2)
 * Noh Min-ji – recording (track 1, 3, 5), digital editing (track 1, 3)
 * Kim Hyo-joon – recording (track 4, 8), digital editing (track 4–5, 8)
 * Jeong Jae-won – recording (track 5, 10)
 * Lee Kang-hyun – recording (track 10)
 * Oh Hyun-seok – recording track 10)
 * Kim Kyung-tae – recording (track 10)
 * Lee Min-kyu – digital editing (track 7), mixing (track 5, 7)
 * Eugene Kwon – digital editing (track 7)
 * Kim Cheol-sun – mixing (track 1–2)
 * Jung Eui-seok – mixing (track 3–4)
 * Jeong Yoo-ra – mixing (track 6, 9–10)
 * Nam Koong-jin – mixing (track 8)
 * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering (all tracks)