KINGDOM return with mini album History Of Kingdom : PartⅥ. Mujin and title song Dystopia.
KINGDOM albums are always something to look forward to! While their title tracks sometimes don’t find their way into my heart, the group is already known for having fantastic b-sides and their last year’s Illusion even ended up on my Top 12 B-sides of 2022. I am still obsessed with it and wish it was the actual title track. However, I was rather excited about this new album as it felt like it would feature their best title track so far and I was absolutely right! Let’s dig in and see what KINGDOM provided us with today – whatever it ended up being, we all knew that the visuals would not disappoint. Onto the review we go.
Dystopia is probably my favourite title by the group so far as it’s also their best structured one. I feel like all sections of the song fit well with each other create a very enjoyable listening experience. I really enjoy in the traditional sounding verses the most and the boys sound fantastic during those, especially when the tempo plays around slowing down and speeding up. I also love the two-part pre-chorus which is not something we hear often. The chorus is definitely on the more modern side of things, just on the verge of progressing into some trap rap verse but that luckily doesn’t happen and the song continues in the traditional style after that point too. Dystopia showcases the best of the group – the great performance, unique concept and visuals and an affinity towards proper melody. I love the dramatics of the final section of the song as well – it gives you an additional energy boost! A great title track by KINGDOM on all levels.
KINGDOM don’t play around when it comes to their b-sides and this new album proves that fact the absolute truth. The group delivers yet another set of fantastic b-sides and the very dramatic, theatrical Love is Pain has to be my favourite one at the moment. This song could’ve easily been a title track as well – it has great, dramatic verses, a very melodic, strong chorus and a more than solid finale. It’s being added onto my playlist as we speak because I know I will listen to it a lot this month. KINGDOM are a hidden gem for sure!
One of my favourite KINGDOM comebacks so far!
Every KINGDOM comeback is exciting for me for some reason. I have always enjoyed the boys’ concept even if their music has been rather hit or miss (title wise at least) as they usually have absolutely banger b-sides. This album focuses on member Mujin and takes us to a really interesting looking kingdom. The teaser photos for Dystopia looked interesting and I was excited to see which sound the boys would challenge this time around and I have to say this is one is one of the best ones so far. Let me not ramble on and let’s get into the review.
First of all, I always love the way they incorporate traditional instruments into their music and Dystopia‘s instrumental is absolutely amazing. If you listen to the song after the fantastic intro to the album – which I have personally replayed about 5 times already it is that good – the song just gets better because the transition is flawless! Dystopia has a great flow throughout the verses and I think the chorus is definitely the catchiest of the ones KINGDOM had so far. I usually complain that the music video and feel of the titles are great but they are too performance focused but Dystopia feels like a cohesive piece of music, it has a hook and chorus that gets me actually excited. I absolutely love the one member’s deep rap tone as it is a great addition to the song. The highlight of Dystopia is the bridge that slows things down just for it to launch into a super hard hitting exciting last chorus. This is the climax of Dystopia and it works great for me. Overall, a success for KINGDOM.
As I said before KINGDOM’s albums are usually packed with goodies and as I am already loving the albums intro there was bound to be more. History Of Kingdom : PartⅥ. Mujin is again offering us some hidden gems on the track list. I think Song of the Wind is great capturing the vibe of the albums title and extending it to something much softer. My personal stand outs this time around have to be My Wave and Love is Pain (a mood btw). Those two songs give us the KINGDOM b-side excellency I am used to and they made it to my playlist immediately! Elements is great too but that intro to the song is kind of throwing me off a lot and influences my listening experience.
Header Image Source: GF Entertainment
hallyureviews 
I like this. It feels like any other group might mess with the genre melding a bit too much on a track like this, but the consistency just works so well here! I keep forgetting about Kingdom tho, but this has totally reminded me that I gotta listen to everything between this and their debut.
I’ll be waiting for the dance practice too, it looks pretty interesting with the sheathed sword move.
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So true the live stages look pretty cool so far (mcountdown at least) and enjoy listening through their discography its pretty interesting!
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