It’s hard to find a more consistent and hard-working band than Story of the Year. The band has steadily cranked out six previous albums that each have their own personality and highlight Story of the Year’s ability to convey a wide range of emotions through relatable topics. The band shared, “In a lot of ways, A.R.S.O.N. picks up where Tear Me To Pieces left off. We used the same team – Colin Brittain producing again, with the main objective of simply writing great songs. Nothing was forced, no trends were chased, it was simply about getting to the essence of what makes SOTY sound like SOTY: Big guitars, snappy drums, and Dan’s ability to seamlessly oscillate between screaming & singing songs about desperation, loss, and the complexity of relationships.” This encapsulation of the sound Story of the Year were going for on A.R.S.O.N. makes a lot of sense, as the band continues down a familiar path, but with a more hard-hitting urgency. With the incorporation of heavier riffs and a more profound focus on screamed vocals when it makes sense for the songs, their seventh studio album is arguably their hardest-hitting record since In The Wake of Determination.

Nostalgia can have a funny way of bringing back a flood of memories, whether they be for good or bad. Story of the Year do a great job of honing in on the positive memories of their platinum-certified debut LP, Page Avenue, into a re-imagined version of this sound found on their sixth studio album called Tear Me To Pieces. From the similar cover art, to the references of a familiar time on the song “2005,” Story of the Year embrace their past while still looking towards the future. Tear Me To Pieces features a more polished version of themselves that they hinted at on Wolves, and probably wish they had the poise to create back in 2003. This album is a solid collection of songs that hit hard from front to back, and still leave the door wide open to where they could take their sound next. With themes ranging from self-doubt, anxiety, and meaningful relationships, Story of the Year’s return to the music scene couldn’t have come at a better time.