No Album of the Year aggregate for Chapter 04, but the press delivered scored and contrasted verdicts: Grave Noise Media lands a 7.5/10, Kerrang! a lukewarm 3/5, and NuMetalAgenda files an unscored but won-over review — « anthem after anthem of nu-tinged goodness executed not just well, but rather deftly ». Average of the scores: 67.5/100. For a self-released album on their own Kuromaku Corp imprint, the Parisians keep proving that French hardcore exports travel further than most.
What everyone agrees on: nobody sounds like Rise Of The Northstar. Grave Noise calls them « one of the most unique bands in the world », and Kerrang! concedes that « at its blockheaded best, it’s brilliant » — ultra-speedy single « Falcon » is the consensus peak, « the sort of banger a 15-year-old might write with the benefit of a big budget and decades of earned experience » per Sam Law. Guests Landmvrks and Aaron Matts (ten56.) — three French flags on one record, a small victory lap for the scene — are judged « integral rather than superficial ».
What divides: familiarity. Grave Noise warns « it’s all really enjoyable stuff, provided you can look past the familiarity of a lot of it » and shoots down « Under » and « Solitary Homeboy »; Kerrang! finds some experiments « overwrought and self-serious », with transitions that don’t always land. Verdict: a furiously fun record, less adventurous than its manga concept promises. 7/10 — and the Neo Paris pit spins regardless.