AB6IX also made their comeback earlier this week with their new single SAVIOR and mini-album, A to B. This is the first time we are seeing the group following the release of 1,2,3 and the Complete With You special mini-album from January this year, and the group’s last promotions for CHERRY and MO’ COMPLETE from September of last year.

For me, I felt SAVIOR was disjointed. It felt like two or three different ‘songs’ were mashed together, but not to the extent where I can say the ‘songs’ were cohesively mixed. This is thanks to brief pauses between parts of SAVIOR and some of the parts (i.e. verse vs. pre-chorus vs. chorus, and final chorus vs. end of the song) being very distinctive to each other. I feel any hope for SAVIOR to feel cohesive might come about through repeated listens, but that feeling is probably a long way away for this track. Had it been more cohesive from the start, I think SAVIOR would have been a strong track. I really enjoyed the abrasiveness of the synths and the heaviness of the bass when it came to the first verse. The producers really delved deep into that side, and thus created a really stylish and suspenseful atmosphere. Woojin’s rapping really popped in this first verse. Similarly, his rapping also popped out in the second verse, thanks to the cool drums that appear in that section. As for the pre-choruses, I liked how commanding Donghyun, Daehwi and Woong’s vocals were. It spins SAVIOR in a slightly different direction by adding a different flavour to the song. For the chorus, we get an anti-drop that plays with the first verses’ instrumental. I wished the chorus continued the incline from verse to pre-chorus, instead of repeating similar vibes of the verses. It unfortunately made SAVIOR feel a bit flat. However, that flat feeling (particuarly following the third chorus) is lost once we reach the end of the song where AB6IX kicks up the song with what feels like a dynamic rock sequence (though I think it is more synths than rock). I wished SAVIOR explored a bit more of this (maybe bring it in during the choruses to continue the song’s inclining trajectory, and then insert another dynamic ender to the song?). I might be asking for a lot, but I really do think SAVIOR would have benefited from a more connected experience.

It comes as no surprise to me that the video opts for a dark and edgy concept to match the song’s instrumental and atmosphere. Not too sure if there is a plot in this video, however. I did like the eerie start to the video, but it soon becomes more of a tense video than anything else (as evident by the dramatic change in momentum just before the final chorus). I also liked the post-production added to the choreography scenes. It was subtle, but it looked cool. The lighting in this video (i.e. during the verses and the rock sequence at the end) was another cool element to the video.

As for the choreography, the arm work at the start of the routine perked my interest and the energy at the end that they put into the choreography really wrapped up the performance well. But the in between bit was standard and didn’t offer anything memorable to talk about.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.3/10