It has only been a couple of months since Adrenaline and ATEEZ’s 13th mini album, Golden Hour: Part 4. But yesterday, ATEEZ returned with the next instalment of their Golden Hour series (Part 5) and its lead single, BAD.

BAD incorporates Brazilian Funk to infuse some fun and to pull in current trends into ATEEZ’s discography. After all, it is summer, and such energy (when done right) can make the song feel synonymous with the hot season. The start is ear-catching thanks to the Brazilian Funk. But the song then barely barely moves on from its beginning, keeping BAD‘s instrumental similar throughout its verses and choruses. As a result, BAD feels empty and dull. BAD only steps it up in the final chorus, adding more bass to make the ending feel more pronounced. While appreciated, it is too late in the song to spark much excitement. As for the chorus, the monotonous repetition of the song’s title only adds to BAD‘s dullness. There have been times where the delivery works, but with BAD‘s already empty feeling, the monotone and repetition didn’t help as much. The members’ delivery was good, overall. Their rapping was decent, and the vocal moments, when they finally appeared in the bridge, had potential. Again, it was a pity we had to wait that long to get to something appealing.

Unlike the song, I enjoyed the music video. It sees the members confront their lover, who appears to have played multiple people (including the ATEEZ members) in the past, making them fall in love with her. Her finger is full of wedding rings, and we see some members on dates with her, while other members catch on or discover her scheme. Later on, she uses her charm on other people to hypnotise them into helping defend her, rivalling the members in the courtroom. We see a great montage of everyone (including the accused lover herself) performing ATEEZ’s choreography, before walking out of the courtroom with a ‘not guilty’ verdict. But in an unexpected twist, an epilogue video uploaded after the music video dropped, shows WOOYOUNG succumbing to the hypnosis, just like everyone else who defended the accused lover. Assuming Part 5 follows the same promotional agenda as their past releases, we might get treated to a second music video for a follow-up single from the mini-album to connect to the broader Golden Hour lore.

The choreography for this comeback is on par with their other routines. There is definitely a sensual vibe in the routine, especially the chest pops at the end. There is also a subtle, powerful quality that works well with ATEEZ’s alluring performance style and makes the routine even better.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10