One of the most successful debuts of the year (and in KPOP ever) has made their first comeback this week. Previously, ZEROBASEONE set records with their 1st mini-album Youth In The Shade, such as becoming the most pre-ordered debut KPOP album and being the first ever KPOP debut album to sell more than 1 million copies. This week, the group returns with their 2nd mini-album, Melting Point, and the lead single CRUSH.

CRUSH starts off strong, in my opinion. YUJIN’s smooth vocals to open up the song, TAERAE’s powerful line, RICKY and GYUVIN’s punchy delivery, JIWOONG’s slightly shouty rap line and MATTHEW’s sleek rapping all came together to create quite a first verse. I also enjoyed the the incline in the instrumentation towards the chorus. But things started to unravel when CRUSH opts for a descending melody to lead into the first chorus. I am not a big fan of the cluttering drum line that takes centre stage in CRUSH. While it is undeniably striking, it is also very jarring and detached from the rest of the instrumentation. The vocals also take on a shouty motif, which makes sense given the group has to channel the same energy in order to be heard over the drum line. But it also feels unimaginative. Somehow, the drumming does meld well into the second half of the chorus. While I do like the more melodic turn this half of the chorus takes, I do find it a bit plain and unexciting. If the song opted for a structure like the one final chorus but with a much stronger melody, I would have enjoyed CRUSH a lot more. The second verse comes along and features some rapping, but nothing as memorable as in the pre-chorus (which we do get a repeat of). CRUSH‘s bridge was a bore and there is nothing to remember it by. While CRUSH does attempt to do something bolder with the clanging drumline, that itself doesn’t sit well with me. And everything else, aside from the first verse and final chorus (albeit a strong melody), just didn’t feel memorable enough.

The music video is pretty cool. The post-production special effects, which made the members feel statue or art-like, definitively took the video to the next level. The cinematography of these same shots look super cool. ZHANGHAO’s shots at the start and end were without doubt the most memorable shots of the video, with the knight armory and sword in the rock. It made think of King Arthur and the Excalibur. I feel like there should be story in all of this, but I am not entirely sure. I wished the song had a similar effect.

The synchronisation makes for a very cool dance performance. I did wish the moves were sharper, just to give the performance a greater knife-edge impression. But it was a good routine, overall.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10