Melanie Martinez didn’t pivot on Hades. She kicked the door in and set the place on fire.
This is easily her most aggressive, claustrophobic release to date. Where Portals felt like a transformation, Hades feels like what happens after… when everything settles wrong and starts rotting from the inside out.
Sonically, it’s still rooted in that eerie, dollhouse-pop she’s known for, but now it’s corroded. The hooks are there, but they feel weaponized. Sweetness gets twisted into something uncomfortable. There’s distortion everywhere. Layers on layers. At times it feels like the songs are actively collapsing in on themselves.
And yeah… that’s kind of the point.
Lyrically, she’s not hiding behind characters as much this time. This one’s way more direct. Religion, power, internet brain rot, control disguised as safety… she’s swinging at all of it, and not really worried about being subtle. Tracks like “WHITE BOY WITH A GUN” and “THE VATICAN” don’t dance around anything. They just hit.
Best moments:
- “POSSESSION” – quiet, creepy, and actually sticks with you
- “GARBAGE” – sets the tone immediately, no easing in
- “CHATROOM” – pure overstimulated chaos in the best way
The biggest issue? It’s a lot.
18 tracks deep and some of it starts to blur together. The production is so dense that her voice occasionally gets buried, and there are definitely moments where pulling things back would’ve hit harder.
But at the same time, the overload kind of works. This album is supposed to feel suffocating. Clean and polished would’ve killed it.
Hades isn’t an easy listen, and it’s not trying to be. It’s messy, heavy-handed, and occasionally overwhelming… but it commits to the bit all the way through.
8/10
Not perfect. Not subtle.
But it hits hard enough that it doesn’t need to be.
MID SOUTH 