Song Review:: xikers: ROUTE ZERO : The ORA- OKay

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  • Release date: 2026 May 19
  • Album tracklist: Ghost Rider, OKay, Graffiti, Trophy, Outsider
  • Album runtime: 14 minutes

They just turned three a couple of months ago, and they're already on their seventh mini album. The kids are very busy, and on top of that, we have been getting prepped for this song for over a month now. And if we look at the album title, we're in a new era for them. I'm excited. I'm so excited. I cannot wait. I'm still looking for another title track that I love as much as Witch, but my expectations are realistically lower. Will we get our first win? Fingers crossed. I just want them to get that first win. I know how important it is no matter their other achievements, and if this were a story, having that first win be at the start of a new era would be thematically appropriate. I'm not super enthused about the runtime, but the title track is over three minutes, technically. Barely. So I'm fine with whatever else is going on. 

I love it when we get the creepy stuff from this group. There's a weight to the instrumental that's a little surprising, and coiled power that we occasionally get a burst of, but nothing really properly sustained. The synth is very aggressive in spots, but the song as a whole sounds like it's waiting for something, which is odd for a title track and I'm wondering if it'll make sense in context of the track order. However, I also have to say that the way the instrumental punctuates the song is surprisingly enjoyable. 

Songs where Sumin gets to scream just hit different, and there's nothing like them live so I'm very much looking forward to it. I don't think we've gotten a proper one since KOONG, so I'm actually really happy that this is more of a delightful treat rather than an expected staple. I don't particularly like the chorus, mostly because I don't like that style of chorus. We've got a lot of stylistic autotune, again, something I'm not overly fond of, but there's a lot more singing than the beginning with its abundance of rap would suggest. I love the pre-chorus though. Love that. And it sounds very similar to Superpower, which took a little bit to fully grow on me, but I vibe with that song now, so I anticipate that this one will also. It'll probably take less time because of Superpower.

Ghost Rider and Outsider are probably currently my favorites of the album, but there aren't any songs on there that I'd automatically skip, if that makes sense.

I also love this music video, as per the usual. In the prize fight of the century, in one corner, we have a haunted, malevolent house, and in the other, we have ten goblins who have figured out their powers and are now exploring them. Who will win? And Sumin is also Hunter's sleep paralysis demon (joke), which also makes me wonder if Hunter died and then the other nine brought him back. Like, is he a zombie now? Am I completely off base? I don't know. But I love that we have so much storyline that I get to have questions like this.

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