Album Review - STORY OF THE YEAR - “A.R.S.O.N.”
Written by: Toree Diver | Wednesday 25th February 2026
“This album is a banger from start to finish. Long term STORY OF THE YEAR fans would say it isn’t long enough.”
The follow up album to 2023’s Tear Me to Pieces (TMTP) arrived on February 13th. The seventh album by STORY OF THE YEAR, A.R.S.O.N. hits every feeling in the pop punk/emo/rock heart.
Distributed by Sharptone Records, the album is produced by Colin Brittain, Dan Book and Kevin McComb. Brittain (current drummer for LINKIN PARK) comes back after the success of Tear Me to Pieces with the band wanting to continue the momentum and build from that. Their aim was not to reinvent the wheel or do something completely different. They could see fans enjoying the heavier songs on Page Avenue and Tear Me to Pieces and wanted A.R.S.O.N. to capitalize on that. Some say this is the best album since Page Avenue. And like they did 20 years ago, fans are connecting with every track on the new album.
The range of vocals from Marsala, from clean to unclean, and from melodic to screams, sounds smooth and connecting. He pushes his voice to amazing levels, and if anything, has gotten better with age. The drums, especially in See Through and Halos, are impressive – Phillips’ guitar solo in Halos blows the mind and is a standout highlight.
Fans’ reactions to the album have been positive with favourites emerging, but many are not able to pick just one. The first single, and heaviest on the album, Gasoline (All Rage Still Only Numb) was released in October 2025. The song’s live debut was at the When We Were Young festival sideshow in Las Vegas, played again at the main festival over the next two days, fast becoming a crowd favourite with fans singing along to “fuck it up, burn it down, cover it all in gasoline”.
The second single off the album is the catchy but heavy and screamo track Disconnected. Released in January 2026, its live debut was on the Emo’s Not Dead cruise. The song is about feeling stuck in a rut, cut off from everyone and everything in your life, doing your best not to implode, while feeling alone. The switch between clean and scream vocals has Marsala at the top of the class. This is my favourite track on the album.
Third track See Through starts with a heavy riff and killer drums, a mix between heavy and pop punk. It’s catchy, one of my favourites. Next up is Fall Away which jumps straight into heavy riffs, slows down and surprises with guest collaborator, Jacoby Shaddix, lead singer of PAPA ROACH. Shaddix raps a couple of verses and is a unique contrast with Marsala’s vocals, but it works really well.
3am is the pop punk track of the album. Reminding me of a modern version of Page Avenue, it is an upbeat, catchy track. The song is about being away from your family when you’re on tour for weeks and months at a time, being lucky to do music for a living but there are sacrifices as well.
The sixth track is Into The Dark which is a slower paced but heavy track, and one fans can scream back at Marsala at a live show. The song is about “letting go and giving in to the darkness. Not being afraid to embrace your fears and vices.” My Religion is the next track and is a love song that goes through the ups and downs of relationships. Reminds me of the sound of the Tear Me to Pieces album. Halos is a throwback to the Page Avenue days, probably the most similar track on the record and is about being a burden and needing someone to pick us up every now and then. At 2.28 Phillips’ guitar solo rips.
Next up is Good for Me / Feel So Bad. Lyrics like “if it’s good for me, why does it feel so bad?”, “Sometimes, I’m scared I will hurt myself”, and “Since you’ve been gone from my life, all I feel is sad” reference relationships, loss, and hurting yourself. I like it.
The most stripped back track Better than High is simple and slow, emotional and raw. A change from the high energy and heaviness of the rest of the album. Closing out the album is I Don’t Wanna Feel Like This Anymore, a song about love, loss and the pain of moving on. I can see the track being a good one to play live with fans singing their pain away. Great song to finish the album.
Eleven songs and a playthrough time of 34 minutes, this album is a banger from start to finish. Long term STORY OF THE YEAR fans would say it isn’t long enough and needs another song or two!
Last in Australia in 2024 for the Page Avenue 20th anniversary tour, STORY OF THE YEAR were due to tour as part of the now shelved Park Waves festival this year. We know the guys love Australia and we eagerly await news of their next visit to tour this album!
A.R.S.O.N. is out now. Get it here.
