REVIEWS
The boyband stay true to themselves on album eight, even without some familiar voices.
EXO have long thrived as an albums first group. Even when a single takes centre stage, their strongest moments have always come from the bigger picture, the careful sequencing, the mood building and the layered vocal work. Their eighth studio release, ‘REVERXE’, leans fully into that tradition while also showing how the group adapts when familiar structures begin to shift.
With Baekhyun, Chen and Xiumin absent amid ongoing contract disputes with SM Entertainment, ‘REVERXE’ immediately feels more stripped back. Only six members, Suho, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun and returning member Lay, appear on the record, resulting in fewer vocal stacks, less harmonic padding and noticeably more space in the arrangements. That sparseness reflects the wider uncertainty surrounding the group, making the album feel shaped as much by what is missing as by what remains.
This push and pull between what is present and what is not is woven into the album’s flow. ‘REVERXE’ opens with its most high impact moments, charging forward with ‘Crown’, a familiar SM Entertainment rush that swings between rap sections, melodic peaks and sheer momentum. Chanyeol and Sehun trade sharp verses as the chorus lifts upward, held steady by D.O. and Suho, before the production pulls the track back into darker territory.
The sense of drive continues on ‘Crazy’, which holds back before unleashing its strongest idea at the end. After the bridge, the song accelerates into pulsing techno, a late track surge EXO have mastered over the years. The clear standout, however, is ‘Suffocate’. It balances dancefloor energy with a shadowy edge reminiscent of the ‘Obsession’ era, constantly moving forward without losing tension. The vocals finally lock in here, with Kai in particular delivering the hook with just enough intensity to keep the drama feeling sharp rather than excessive.
The second half of ‘REVERXE’ relaxes into a lighter, more effortless mode, sometimes working in its favour and sometimes exposing its limits. It is also where Lay’s return feels most at ease. ‘Moonlight Shadows’ serves as the turning point, a slow and nocturnal R and B track that shifts the album’s energy. From there, ‘Touch and Go’ drifts along as a gentle slow burner, while ‘Back Pocket’ taps into a nostalgic groove driven by a funky bassline. ‘Flatline’ is the most unexpected detour, arriving as polished indie pop rock with a bright, clean finish.
Still, the album stumbles most when it either chases trends too closely or plays things overly cautious. ‘Back It Up’ leans into noisy production ideas that do not quite align with EXO’s natural strengths. ‘I’m Home’ highlights the group’s reduced vocal power most clearly. It has all the ingredients of a classic EXO winter ballad, but without the familiar voices of Baekhyun, Chen and Xiumin, it never fully blossoms into the emotional release it promises.
As a project defined by absence, both in its lineup and the circumstances surrounding it, ‘REVERXE’ is intentionally lean without ever feeling hollow. It does not attempt to redefine EXO’s legacy, but at its strongest, it lands with enough clarity and confidence to underline what the group can still do. Eight albums in, that level of consistency remains something few can match.
