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
Armageddon generally received positive reviews by the music critics, 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 Indias 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".
In a mixed review from The Guardian giving two out of five stars, from Alexis Petridis 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.
Accolades + Awards and nominations for Armageddon Award ceremony Year Category Result Asian Pop Music Awards 2024 Best Album of the Year (Overseas) Top 20 Albums of the Year (Overseas) Golden Disc Awards 2025 Album of the Year (Daesang) Best Album (Bonsang) Korean Music Awards 2025 Album of the Year (Daesang) Best K-pop Album MAMA Awards 2024 Album of the Year (Daesang) Melon Music Awards 2024 Album of the Year (Daesang) Millions Top 10 Album Tencent Music Entertainment Awards 2024 K-pop Album of the Year TMElive International Music Awards 2025 International Digital Album of the Year
Track listing
Credits and personnel Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Studio SM Wavelet Studio – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix SM Droplet Studio – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix SM Yellow Tail Studio – recording , digital editing SM Aube Studio – recording , digital editing SM Dorii Studio – recording Vibe Music Studio 606 – recording The Vibe Studio – recording SM Big Shot Studio – digital editing , mixing Doobdoob Studio – digital editing SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing SM Blue Cup Studio – mixing SM Starlight Studio – mixing SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing 821 Sound – mastering
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 Kenzie – producer, arrangement , lyrics, composition, vocal directing Paris Alexa – composition, background vocals Dem Jointz – producer, composition, arrangement Bang Hye-hyun (Jam Factory) – lyrics Ejae – composition, background vocals Sumin – composition, background vocals Waker (153/Joombas) – composition, piano, programming No Identity – producer, composition, arrangement, bass, drums, piano, synthesizer, programming Jo Yoon-kyung – lyrics Ludwig Lindell (Caesar & Loui) – producer, composition, arrangement Daniel Caesar (Caesar & Loui) – producer, composition, arrangement Ylva Dimberg – composition Lee Eun-hwa (153/Joombas) – lyrics Mike Daley – producer, composition, arrangement Mitchell Owens – producer, composition, arrangement Nicole "Kole" Cohen – composition Adrian McKinnon – composition Kang Eun-jeong – lyrics Daniel Davidsen (PhD) – producer, composition, arrangement Peter Wallevik (PhD) – producer, composition, arrangement Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker – composition , background vocals Karen Poole – composition Jonatan Gusmark (Moonshine) – producer, composition, arrangement Ludvig Evers (Moonshine) – producer, composition, arrangement Ellen Berg – composition, background vocals Moon Seol-ri – lyrics Stian Nyhammer Olsen – producer, composition, arrangement Live Rabo Lund-Roland – composition Nora Grefstad – composition Julia Finnseter – composition Mola – lyrics Mia (153/Joombas) – lyrics Gil Lewis – producer, composition, arrangement Micky Blue – composition Leslie – lyrics Sophia Brenan – composition Nick Hahn – composition Edvard Erfjord – producer, composition, arrangement Lee O-neul – lyrics Sophia Pae – composition MinGtion – producer, composition, arrangement, bass, piano , vocal directing Maxx Song – vocal directing Saay – vocal directing Kim Jin-hwan – vocal directing Emily Yeonseo Kim – vocal directing, background vocals Perrie – vocal directing Park Shin-won – guitar Han Seong-eun – strings arrangement Yung – strings Kang Eun-ji – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix Kim Joo-hyun – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix Noh Min-ji – recording , digital editing Kim Hyo-joon – recording , digital editing Jeong Jae-won – recording Lee Kang-hyun – recording Oh Hyun-seok – recording Kim Kyung-tae – recording Lee Min-kyu – digital editing , mixing Eugene Kwon – digital editing Kim Cheol-sun – mixing Jung Eui-seok – mixing Jeong Yoo-ra – mixing Nam Koong-jin – mixing Kwon Nam-woo – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts + Chart (2024) Peakposition Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA) 12 Croatian International Albums (HDU) 14 Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon) 3 Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) 14 Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) 98 Nigerian Albums (TurnTable) 34 South Korean Albums (Circle) 2 Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 20
Monthly charts + Chart (2024) Position Japanese Albums (Oricon) 8 South Korean Albums (Circle) 4
Year-end charts + Chart (2024) Position Japanese Albums (Oricon) 96 Portuguese Albums (AFP) 141 South Korean Albums (Circle) 12
Certifications
Release history + Region Date Format Label South Korea May 27, 2024 CD Various United States July 5, 2024 CD Various February 24, 2025 Vinyl LP SM
References