So far, Noir’s music has reminded me of the famous Shakespearean phrase: “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I bet you didn’t expect me to open a K-pop review with a quote from Macbeth, but it seems apt here. We can forget the “told by an idiot” part of the phrase, because Noir seem every bit as capable and hungry as their peers. And really, their noisy sound has been pretty decent so far. But, it hasn’t given them a leg up in the competitive idol industry. Their songs bluster around, but tend to fade fast from memory.
New single Doom Doom (둠둠) will likely succumb to the same fate. The guys throw everything they have at the track, blending aggressive synths, trap beats and jackhammer percussion to create a restless beast of a song. Doom Doom revolves around a breakneck, hissy-fit chorus, where the guys compete against deafening, post-dubstep electronics. There’s not a whole lot of melody to be found, but I like how the track seems to be in constant flux. No segment is repeated in exactly the same way, which gives Doom an appealing, anything-goes energy.
However, I wish the track spent some time building on its best moments. Its dramatic, vocal-led pre-chorus hints at better things to come, and the chorus’s anthemic second half would have been more enjoyable without the instrumental maelstrom that precedes it. As interesting as portions of Doom Doom are, I don’t see the fascination lasting long. There’s simply too much happening at once, with no element taking precedence and acting as a compelling anchor for the track.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
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The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Okay, I loved this, but to be fair I’m a diehard Lumiere. I like how this song doesn’t really “play it safe” and takes a lot of risks. It never does just basic trop house or deep house or any other trendy sound, and even though the verses are a bit lacking everything else is so good that I just don’t pay as much attention to the verses. And the song is so “risky” that the instrumental is a genuinely interesting listen. Plus, say what you will about Noir’s music but you can’t deny that they’re always styled amazingly (but honestly we can do without Siheon’s mullet here)
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I like how this never drops to half tempo and how it sounds like whoever recorded this sampled their voices and played them on a keyboard or something (we need more of that energy in k-pop in 2019), but with a name like “Doom Doom” I really wish this sounded more like Slayer
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mmm, yes, so we can review this track by the tropes it did not include. (“It could have done ______, but thankfully it didn’t”) I didn’t watch the video much – was there the obligatory scene in an abandoned parking garage with mood lighting?
My big problem is that their agency is trying to craft a kpop group that is all badass gansta, and they are not. Melodically, when there are melodies, it sounds like trying to be old school BTS (Dope, Fire era) with the hard parts, and trying very hard to have high notes but not quite getting as high.
But my bigger problem that for a song called DOOM, instead of hitting the word Doom so many times in the chorus at an F4, they should have hit it an octave lower at an F3 (or both together) F3 is not low at all for guys.
That said, it isn’t terrible, but it isn’t great either.
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