[ALBUM REVIEW] STORY OF THE YEAR- 'A.R.S.O.N'.
Writer: Mal Keecher
STORY OF THE YEAR
‘A.R.S.O.N’ OUT FEBRUARY 13, 2026
VIA SHARPTONE RECORDS
Festival fan favourites Story Of The Year return to solid form with their seventh studio album A.R.S.O.N via SharpTone Records, officially released February 13, 2026.
In my experience via copious listens of each of their seven studio albums, SOTY have often managed to perfectly encapsulate a certain emotion coincidentally coinciding with one's own life story amid universally shared themes. Which I assume is true for most people’s experience of their favourite bands. This album brings a maturity but also a very youthful, timeless nostalgia all at once. In 2008 (uncannily, 18 years have somehow flown by), I bought a ticket to see their show at 170 Russell, Melbourne (AU) off the back of their Black Swan album. I was blasting their music in my earphones and inevitably made a new friend on the train ride into the city who was also going to the show. Oh, the days of spontaneous music mates.
The title track Gasoline (All Rage Still Only Numb) is an explosive start to the record and featured on their preceding single Disconnected, which I personally gave about 100 listens over this last month.
Disconnected is a powerful antidote to boredom, with its fierce introduction and captivating chorus. It's a solid song with a strong unyielding punch, and much like most songs on this record–powerfully moving and melodic.
Sick of being disconnected from everything I need
How am I gonna clear the wreckage
When it's crashing down, crashing down on me?
Took the fall 'cause it's all that I've got
Hit the bottom so hard my heart stopped
This is Story Of The Year at their pinnacle, somehow still on the ascent after 24 years, sounding just as exhilarating as they did decades ago.
See Through is engaging and catchy from the start and contains all the features fans have come to know of SOTY-catchy, exciting, emotive, heartfelt and poetic songwriting. This one is a transparent, raw, energetic track that has also received many repeat listens.
Just let me close my eyes
'Cause I don't know what I might do
If I don't see you
Just let me close my eyes
If I see someone that's not you
Who knows what I might
When I taste you, I see stars
Retinas red like Mars
When I see light, I go dark
Nails on my skin leave a mark
When I see death, I see youth
When I see war, I see truth
When I see God, I need proof
But when I close my eyes, it's you
Fall Away (feat. Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach) has it all. With its soaring melodies amid lulls in addition to the pairing of Marsala's intoxicating vocals with Shaddix's complementary rap rock, Fall Away does well to engage the senses.
3 am is a personal favourite, with its lyrical sorcery serving as a familiar window into oft-repeated late-night happenings. The beauty of song lyrics being that one can identify with them in ways not initially intended, or we can fit them to our own experiences. SOTY hit every mark on this one, from lyrics, to catchy melody; scratchy drawn out charged yells to its clean tones and emotive conviction.
I'm wide awake again, it's 3 a.m.
Your voice is in my head
It always happens when I'm in between
I love you and I hate myself
'Cause I'll be gone in the morning
I'm wide awake again, it's 3 a.m.
Your voice is in my head
Into The Dark is gritty, brimming with emotion and synonymous with SOTY's signature sound. Filled with soaring woah-oh's, Into The Dark ranks high on this album’s personal favourites. This is surely a song to pull out in their upcoming live shows for a big crowd sing and sway-along.
My Religion is a departure from what fans may be used to hearing on a SOTY record, but it works well with its contemporary feel, and I like it. It's a very modern sounding alt rock song, sprinkled with SOTY's undeniable heartfelt vocals, much like you would hear on a record by Aussie rock sensations Stand Atlantic, except SOTY-fied.
Halos is akin to a quintessentially SOTY anthem, as it kicks the record up a gear, being the kind of SOTY song that initially got me enthused on the first listen. It's a relentless headbanger and head nodder, filled with a copious dose of Marsala's scratchy- catchy and melodic vocals, complete with shredding guitar by the hugely talented Ryan Phillips, a man who evidently always hits the exhilarating mark when playing live, too.
I call your name
When I can't see the way
I'll be okay
I need to hear you say
Even when the world feels hollow
We don't have to face this alone
I call your name
I need to hear you
SOTY seem to be channeling something akin to Hawthorne Heights on Good For Me/Feel So Bad. The throwback vibes are strong on this one, and again, it feels like familiarity and nostalgia mixed with a newness, at least temporally.
The acoustic Better Than High brings me back again to the last.fm days, circa 2007, albeit for the more chill stripped back heart on- sleeve emo rock tracks like this discovered with glee, evoking a a special kind of nostalgia. It accentuates Dan Marsala's voice and talent, something that lay mostly dormant in SOTY’s early years as Marsala was the drummer for the first five years of the band.
I Don't Wanna Feel Like This Anymore brings home the record with yet more heartfelt conviction, once more highlighting SOTY's ongoing ability to continually show vulnerability on emotive and engaging tracks like this.
In all honesty, I thoroughly enjoyed every song from A.R.S.O.N and the nostalgic vibes were very palpable, despite this LP being a 2026 release. Well done, lads.
****4/5 Stars.
Click here to buy or play A.R.S.O.N via the official links
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