Tag: ATEEZ

ATEEZ made their debut at the end of October with Treasure. Since the release, the group have been actively promoting both Treasure and Pirate King on the weekly music shows. In my Treasure review, I did state that Pirate King was some sort of pre-debut single for the group and I believe I misstated that it wasn’t included in the actual album release (I was wrong with this latter bit). Their debut allowed for the release of the music video and proper promotions for the track, bumping it up to title track status.

When I heard the ‘Pirate King‘ titled, I expected something along the lines of Pirates of the Carribean. Don’t ask me why that is the first thing that popped into my head but it just did. The song isn’t anything like that official soundtrack. Instead, we get a very bombastic EDM track, which did have a slight theatrical flair and actually could be a part of a soundtrack to some sort of grand movie. I really like some of the synths in the song, which added electrifying details to the song to make it very appealing. The main concern with the song was that the instrumental was quite heavy and loud (not really an ideal track to blast over and over again). One of the possibilities that this could lead to is the overshadowing of the vocals and raps. However, this wasn’t the case as both vocals and raps were definitely well-heard and clear. And like their debut single, vocals and raps were on point!

We don’t have an actual music video for Pirate King, but instead, we have a performance version. For those who are new, you can get two official videos for a title track – the actual music video and a performance version (if there is choreography involved, though this one tends to be optional for some groups). Usually, you get the performance video in one set only. But we are treated to various sets for this video, which I believe to be the same deserts observed in the Treasure music video. It is quite good and the editing between the sets was great.

Amazing performance. The way they moved looked so cool. I particularly like the formation at the start of the second verse and the chorus. And that ending was so powerful. Honestly, I think I know which group I need to look out for (performance wise) next year!

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.9/10

Make their official debut this week is ATEEZ, an 8-member male group under KQ Entertainment. The group is made up of Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San Minji, Wooyoung and Jongho. Four of the members (Jongjoong, Minji, Wooyoung and Jongho) participated in the survival show MIXNINE. Treasure is their debut title track, which comes from Treasure EP1 All To Zero. They did also release a music video for Pirate King (review coming soon) but it is interestingly omitted from the Treasure album.

Starting off the song is a whole verse of rapping. I think this is a great opener to the group as they boast some skilful rappers as part of their lineup. I like it even more as they put the rapping over that ‘movie style’ wind sound, giving us an opportunity to really process their rapping alone. We then have given a little taster to the vocals in the pre-chorus. Nothing too special however the two lines (the one with everyone joining in and the one split between Wooyoung and Jongho) give off some nice textures to the rest of the song. The chorus felt epic and definitely a major highlight. However, the winning combination has to be the bridge where some of the vocalists and rappers come together to provide a very epic climb to the peak of the song. And it just feels amazing alongside the drum beats we get (building suspense) prior to the final chorus. I would have liked to hear more vocals in the song (on their own) but what we have is an excellent debut song.

Whoever decided to the shoot the video in the desert is incredible. What I have failed to mention about the song thus far is that is rather intense. And the video does a really good job at channelling this intensity.  Interestingly, they didn’t need a military bridge of backup dancers or crazy flashing lights to show off this intensity, They just had themselves, some beautiful yet deserted backdrops and the desert as ways to show off dominance. Their presence was very powerful as well.

To me, the choreography scenes in the music video didn’t feel like they were up to par with the song. It felt much weaker and I was a little disappointed by that. I cannot say for sure, as I cannot seem to locate a live performance for Treasure (they have only begun promotions for Pirate King – which is rather confusing). So I will update the performance section once there is a performance available.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 6/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10