2025 has seen a number of boy group debuts spawned from survival series, and so far they’ve been killing it. NouerA and Close Your Eyes led charge and now it’s AHOF’s turn. This global group was formed on SBS series Universe League and their awkward acronym stands for “All-Time Hall Of Famer.” Time will tell if that moniker goes on to be self-fulfilling, but debut track Rendezvous (그곳에서 다시 만나기로 해) gets them off to a strong start.
This one’s for the old-school 2nd/3rd generation K-pop fans who miss 3+ minute, melodically-driven songs with a heavy dose of idol angst. At almost four minutes, Rendezvous allows itself the space to grow from plaintive ballad to surging, cathartic rocker and this sense of payoff is very effective. The song opens with a striking verse, sung partially in falsetto. It’s a gentle sound, but the underlying percussion promises bigger things to come. From here, Rendezvous moves into its driving two-part chorus, which recalls the softer side of so many K-pop legends — from Bigbang to Block B to BTOB.
In K-pop’s current climate, the track could easily have ended at the three minute mark and would have been fine. However, it goes the extra mile to offer the kind of dynamic finale a slow-burn like this deserves. The production could have gone harder, especially when it comes to guitar, but it’s hard not to get swept up in Rendezvous‘s emotional surge. If this is any indication where AHOF might take their music in the future, I think they’ll be able to carve out a great niche for themselves.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
What’s with these 2025 rookie groups and bringing back the 2nd gen flavour? We got NouerA, Close Your Eyes, even Hearts2Hearts with Style and now AHOF. But I’m not complaining, cause we need more of these please!
I love the pop-rock production and the arrangement gives it a sense of drama and catharsis. I feel like the melodies here (mostly the chorus) are too slight, but it gets effective with time and with repeated listens. It’s overall a solid debut and I have a strong feeling that it’ll become a huge grower with time.
Rating’s the same.
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Nick, what did you think about Kpop Demon Hunters? Their songs were pretty great, will you be reviewing them? I know they’re not technically kpop but they are somewhat adjacent hahah
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I may be in the minority, but the entire soundtrack felt a little generic to me. Catchy, yes, but not really weighty.
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Yeah I can see that, the movie was made to appeal to as many people as possible so it makes sense that they went generic. Lots of BP-inspired sounds too. I’d say Free and Your Idol were standouts, and Golden too for the IVE vibes!
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Many people have asked this. I’m not planning on reviewing them at this point. I’ve previewed the album and the material sounds fine but without an actual idol group attached to it the songs just feel kind of generic to me.
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That’s fair! I really hope this movie becomes a springboard for all the vocalists to become pop stars in their own right though, especially EJAE – her voice is SO freaking incredible. The intro suite with her vocals gave me chills!
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I loved the song! This is one of the sounds I’m most fond of. I wasn’t around k-pop spaces when this style was popular and abundant, so it’s nice to experience it concurrently. For me it’s a 9+. I may think there’s too many survival shows in k-pop, but if the groups deliver the quality we’ve seen this year, you won’t see me complain too much.
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I loveeee All My Poetry but I think this is now my favorite debut this year. it’s just a sound I grew up listening to & prefer more. easily a 9 for me.
as for the albums, I prefer ETERNALT as a whole. nevertheless, rookie boy groups are DELIVERING this year.
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This weirdly reminds me of Sober by Big Bang, tbh I missed this style in recent kpop
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I am hearing a lot of Big Bang without their characteristic voices. Like a long lost vault Big Bang song that was never released and is now recorded and released for the first time by a bunch of rookies.
What it is missing is the characteristic voices. Personality. These ones here are kind of bland.
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It’s great to hear a fully fledged outro in K-pop’s climate, and to see Woonggi debut again.
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I followed Universe League so I love these kids and I’m really glad to see them debut with something strong!
My only complaint would be that the song doesn’t really showcase anyone’s vocals (and the group does have some very strong vocalists) but they’ve got time for that.
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I have no idea who they are and where they came from but this song made me so emotional. It’s so nostalgic, hopeful, youthful, I don’t know…it’s just beautiful. It’s a complete song, they sound great and sell the performance .
For sure it will be working out on my Kpop playlist 9/10
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I first thought the song’s longevity was like a 7, since it’s almost 4 minutes long and doesn’t really have those TikTok-ready parts that go viral easily. But after watching this new group perform on music shows for about two weeks, the song totally grew on me.
The musicality, vocals, and storytelling are just so good. I’d give it a 9 (and on a melancholic day, maybe even a 9.25).
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10000% is SOTY for me. Played it 197 times and followed by BEBE with only 66 times, just in Kpop alone
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