A cohesive and high‑energy album – review of “Press Start” by Samurai Pizza Cats

Oh well, as an Italian, I’m already in love with this band. They’re called Samurai Pizza Cats, and they return with “Press Start“, their long‑anticipated second album and the boldest statement of their career so far. The record lands at a moment when the band has fully stepped into their identity: chaotic, colourful, heavy, and unmistakably themselves.

From the opening seconds, “Press Start” feels like booting up a hyperactive, neon‑soaked video game. The production, mixing, and mastering are executed with striking precision — every synth line pops, every breakdown hits with calibrated force, and the electronic layers weave seamlessly into the metalcore/deathcore foundation.

There’s a clear intention to push their identity further — louder, brighter, more exaggerated — and fans will find plenty to love in this next chapter. My favorite track has to be “Ramen-Men“, with BABYBEARD as guest. Yet the album’s greatest strength is also its main limitation. While the production is excellent and the “real‑life game” aesthetic is immersive, “Press Start” often leans so heavily into its own formula that the tracks begin to blur together.

The pacing remains almost uniformly high, the tonal palette rarely shifts, and the band’s trademark chaos — though entertaining — becomes predictable across the full runtime. The result is an album that sounds fantastic moment‑to‑moment but struggles to carve out distinct identities for its individual songs. The cohesion is undeniable, but it comes at the cost of variety.

The album is perfect when you need to decompress and release some energy, so that is a selling point in the band’s favour. Still, as a soundtrack to the band’s growing universe, and to the chaos they’ll unleash at Samurai Pizza Fest — “Press Start” hits its mark with style.

Tracklist:

1. Insert Coin
2. Pandastruck
3. T-Rex(plosion) (feat. Ankor)
4. Fear No Slice
5. Error 808
6. Level Up
7. Ramen-Man (feat. BABYBEARD)
8. Penguin Supreme
9. Super Zero
10. City of Gold
11. Thanks for Playing
12. Pizza Homicide – STVW Version