Next up is TO1, who made their comeback yesterday with No More X. This is the group’s second release under the name TO1 following Son of Beast, and their fourth release overall since their debut under the group name TOO back in 2020 (they rebranded earlier this year when their two co-managing companies had a conflict with one another).

No More X amps up the aggression compared to their previous comebacks, going for a more powerful and dynamic EDM backing. It is abrasive and rough around pretty much every corner. However, I also detect an air of typicaliness from the song, as it feels like your standard song from male groups nowadays. That being said, I still appreciate the blastful energy, aggression and rough textures that are present throughout the entirety of the song. No More X is just isn’t innovative. There is a still fair bit of the song I quite liked. No More X starts off with the main hook, the very catchy ‘Dum Dum Dum‘. It doesn’t appear so at first, but once it presents itself in the chorus, you come to the realisation that it is catchy and also adds a somewhat fun tone to the song. The dance instrumental break we got was probably the most promising part of the instrumentation, feeling quite vibrant. I also quite liked how grabbing the layer of instrumentation, hook and rapping was in the final moments of No More X. It seemed like there was a lot going on in that moment, but I found it to be a bold part of the song. The rest of the song is pretty much standard raps and vocals. There isn’t anything wrong with it, but I think they could have pushed themselves in the song more to make it even better. Overall, No More X seems to be a decent song, though I feel the producers/groups could have done more to make it even better.

The music video for No More X was pretty good. From what I understand (and from what I have read), TO1 becomes beast in this music video via some wine. We see the before (i.e. the scenes in which the members are wearing white and have this white light shining throughout the windows), and the aftermath of developing into a beast (i.e. the scenes in which the members are wearing black). I like this play of opposites. I do think the outdoor scenes when the members are wearing their black outfits (and hence have converted to the dark side) could have been a bit more edgy, with the choreography scene shot at night and in the rain being a good example of what they should have aimed for. But I think what we got did a good job of wrapping the song up in a visual manner.

I also thought the choreography for this comeback was fantastic. I like X formation that appeared during the first pre-chorus, and the X’s incorporated via their arms throughout the choreography. Highly relevant. I also enjoyed the boxing moves and the dance break was very powerful and fitting for the instrumental sequence we got in the song.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.7/10