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It has been a definite while since I last exclaimed this but – VIXX IS BACK! If you have been an avid reader of this blog, you probably know that I am a major VIXX fans, with their concepts being one of the best (if not, the best) in the industry. This time around, VIXX returns as a trio (LEO, KEN and HYUK) with their fifth mini-album, Continuum and the lead single Amnesia. Due to pre-existing schedules, N is sitting out of the comeback, while Hongbin and Ravi both withdrew from VIXX after separate controversaries. VIXX’s last comebacks reviewed on this blog includes Scentist (for Korea) and Reincarnation (for Japan).

Amnesia is a pretty solid song. Right from the get-go in the first verse, I could sense the familiarity from the vocals. I liked that they didn’t try to reinvent themselves to fit this new era, keeping everything pretty much on par as when VIXX was previously active. The instrumental in the verses of Amnesia has this haunting-like vibe to them, which gives off some suspense to help build up the atmosphere and song. The vocals throughout Amnesia were firm and gives the song a very serious tone, which suits the group well. Amnesia‘s choruses has some nice hooks and melodies, which keeps the central piece of the song in my mind. I also really liked the added guitar in the choruses, which helps amps up Amnesia and gives off a more intensified energy that the verses were building up towards. But while Amnesia is good as it is, I did think the song was missing at least two elements. The first is that Amnesia lacks boldness. I needed some definition in this song of some kind to help heighten the song to a new level. The second element comes to mind after comparing Amnesia to past VIXX tracks – the lack of rapping in the song. This does make sense to a degree, as any member who took on that role would be very big shoes to fill following RAVI’s usual roughness and unique rapping style which has definitely formed part of VIXX’s sound. But had the song had a rap sequence of some kind, such as some rapping on top of a rock-influenced instrumental piece to help back up the chorus, this could have also helped resolve the issue of that much needed boldness and possibly taken Amnesia further. As it is, Amnesia is, without a doubt, an appreciated comeback from one of my favourite KPOP groups of all time. But it does lack some of the familiarity that I have associated with VIXX since their debut.

Now, if there is one thing to know about VIXX, it is that they have amazingly dark concepts. And this music video is no exception, with the video featuring a concept about about past memories and how they could be haunting. But Amnesia‘s lyrics convey the meaning of pulling each other in close even within distorted memories (taken from Soompi). So in addition to the past memories, we see what the lyrics convey in two forms in this music video. Firstly, we see the members comes to terms with their own past memories, which looks to be about love or themselves. But secondly, we also them coming together and reuniting as part of the music video towards the end, which I thought was a nice yet different take on the lyrics. I also like the music video’s way of showing their memories were escaping them, with that fume/smoky-like effect coming out of them. And when the video ends and they have remembered those memories, those fume/smoky-like effects are pulled back in.

Another thing that I do remember VIXX by are their performances. While we do not see much in this music video, what we do see looks good. I am hoping stage performances are on the cards for this comeback, so we can see what else the choreography for Amnesia have to offer.

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