It has been fairly quiet from VIVIZ lately, with their last release being PULL UP from January of this year. The female group makes their comeback today with the single MANIAC, which is the lead single from their 4th mini-album, Virus.

MANIAC is another song to fall into the subdued trend that is happening in KPOP. But it falls quite hard into the trend, as I don’t feel there is much going in on the song. More on this in a second. Describing MANIAC as subdued is quite an interesting takeaway for me, given there are rock elements in the chorus that does help boost the profile of the song. I really like the crunchiness that these rock elements bring to MANIAC and being subdued with rock elements does bring an intriguing factor to the song. There is also a slight grooviness to the song, as well. But beyond that, everything else feels flat. The vocals felt very processed, and I am not sure if all of it was necessary. Furthermore, there isn’t much character to VIVIZ’s vocals, which also contributes to the flatness of the song. MANIAC also falls flat on the melody front, with nothing sparking any interest from me. There are some decent moments in the song which do speak to me, such as the opening hook of MANIAC‘s chorus and the flow of the bridge. But these only add up to making MANIAC an alright listen. I do hope that more listens do help me get into the song, as it has only been a few hours since MANIAC‘s release. But I am probably not going to hold my breath over that.

The music video does feel a lot more interesting, as it shows an alternative reality where VIVIZ, who are a band who has been through some rough times in this alternate reality, splitting up and going their separate ways. It starts with SinB stepping away with a solo career, then Umji leaves Eunha behind to do some travelling and Eunha ends with an office job. But the love the members have for each other bring them all back and their reunite in the end. I am not entirely sure if that is the real story behind the music video, as I can’t work find the meaning of the lyrics or the song’s message anywhere on the internet. But for now, my interpretation makes sense in my head and I quite like the story it is telling me. Aside from that, the colours in the music video look super nice and dreamy, which I think works well with the group.

The choreography for the comeback is pretty good. It brings out a slight sensual energy and fits in well with the song as is. I do hope that diagonal formation bit occurs on stage, as that formation used as a transition looks cool.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7/10