As you can imagine, we at Seoulbeats have gotten pretty excited about B.A.P’s comeback, even though it only seems a few days ago they were shooting Zelo and teaching us how to spell their name with “Warrior”. As one of the most talented rookie groups in recent years, B.A.P completely stole my heart and I may or may not have made a few small blood sacrifices in the hope their comeback would be equally gritty and bombastic.
The teaser photos pretty much proved this wasn’t going to be anything near “Secret Love;” there is a distinct 80s Euro-disco flavour that 
retains much of the intensity and fierceness we fell in love with. The colours, the violent, powerful poses (Bang Yong Guk appears to be able to dislocate his entire jaw and Jong-up seems to be going for a backslap) and threatening stares were the reassurance I needed. Normally, a group doing a similar concept as that of their debut suggests lack of imagination and group growth, but without the teaser video, there is no way of knowing if this will be “Warrior” II. In terms of new hairstyles, Key has competition in the faux-mohawk department a la Youngjae. It’s good to see the wall to wall blonde is gone, giving the boys a better chance of distinguishing themselves onstage. The future looked neon bright for their comeback.
While “Warrior” was animalistic with feral clothes and blood-red colouring, “Power” has a more electronic and scientific feel, with many frames of broken machinery. Well, I can’t say if it is broken, but while I’m no mechanic the smoke and the sparks can’t be good, right? We also have the boys hooked up t
o some dangerous brain-zapping machine; a cyber-punk matrix if you will. These shots are interspersed with B.A.P adopting a similar attitude to Warrior, the crunking, the aggressive pointing, the general anger…only now improved with a water floor and a smoke machine. It ends with the deadmau5 B.A.P rabbit, only now we can see its inner workings, and the boys in what looks to be part of the Large Hadron Collider – it looks like prime dance space anyway.
It is hard to tell if this is offering hints at a plot-based MV — maybe they are rots, maybe trained soldiers? If it’s a breakout theme where they over-thrown their oppressors, I see “Fantastic Baby” comparisons looming, and besides — that was pretty much the “Warrior” story. Or perhaps they are just car mechanics with a flair for the dramatic.
While the use of the rabbit logo has sparked accusations of plagiarism, the whistle blowing, Zelo’s mask and even the feral
dancing are becoming staple B.A.P moves. It can take years for bands to define themselves; to have such a strong start is indeed impressive.
But before you get too complacent, you TS Entertainment bosses, we do need to have a little chat about the costumes in this. Times may be hard, but making overcoats and trousers out of silver-painted quilts just isn’t cool, okay? I spy suits happing underneath; there is time to appease me if they do an epic suit-revealing, clothes-ripping dance move. The black tank tops can definitely stay too.
Overall, this looks to be a top-notch comeback, hopefully cementing B.A.P as pulling serious K-pop weight. I have every bit of faith in them — do you think they will pull though?
