It’s been over a year since we’ve gotten new music from GHOST9, but after 18 months the boys have returned with new mini-album ARCADE: O. With the departure of Taeseung and Dongjun, the group continues as seven members for their newest release, “RUCKUS.”

“RUCKUS” is an interesting experience upon first listen. The song is meant to be a driving, high-energy track, but there’s a number of different genre elements that come together at different points of the song. It’s not that it’s composed poorly, there are just certain points where the stark contrast is particularly obvious; in the chorus, for example. The song builds up to an anti-drop at the chorus, where it has a heavy EDM feel to the beat. Then, about halfway through, it adds a reggaeton-influenced beat to the melody. That reggaeton feel exists more subtly in the verses. It’s not bad, it’s just a bit confusing upon first listen to have that drop out at the drop and return very starkly. If you like the mashup of genres, then it’s definitely going to be a banger for you, and it certainly has that potential with the fast tempo and high-energy beats.

It’s been awhile since I have dived into a GHOST9 video, but the concept does remind me a lot of their early concepts in terms of the darker imagery. Many of the sets are at night and feature neon lighting, plus a heavy focus on choreography, particularly in the chorus. As the title would suggest, there’s a concept of reckless youth, which they embody well in my opinion. Overall, the title is a pretty solid representation of the group and definitely a place to start if you’re interested in getting to know them better.

Check out the video for “RUCKUS” below!

Edited by Aleena Faisal