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Sep 28, 2018That AAARTH feels cathartic comes as no surprise, as the trio have long been purveyors of both aural and emotional heft, but this time around they've managed to crystallize both aesthetics into something truly sublime, fulfilling the promise set forth on 2011's The Big Roar.
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Sep 28, 2018Only "What For" and "The Better Me" stop this record being a true sky-scraper. ... Do not miss this album.
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Oct 2, 2018The Joy Formidable have made the statement they needed to with AAARTH--it’s an album of compositional daring and fierce experimentation.
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Q MagazineSep 28, 2018While AAARTH doesn't veer too wildly from the template--tightly-wound rock riffs and pummelling drums forming a circle around frontwman Ritzy Bryan's atmospheric hooks--it doesn't put a foot wrong, either. [Nov 2018, p.109]
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Sep 28, 2018Aaarth is the band’s most off-kilter collection of anthems yet, working in tribal drumming, stuttering and overlapping vocal tracks, and some of the Middle Eastern influences Led Zeppelin famously tried on for size when feeling adventurous. Admirable though the experimentation can be, The Joy Formidable still hits its sweetest spot aiming for the nosebleeds.
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Oct 8, 2018While the album introduces some intriguing new looks—like the Eastern-psych strut of “Cicada (Land on Your Back)”--the Joy Formidable still have a tendency to pummel their tunes into a modern-rock mush.