LE SSERAFIM – UNFORGIVEN Review

LE SSERAFIM UNFORGIVEN Digital Cover

Release Date: May 1, 2023

Track Listing

  1. The World Is My Oyster (2023 Ver.)
  2. FEARLESS (2023 Ver.)
  3. Blue Flame (2023 Ver.)
  4. The Hydra
  5. ANTIFRAGILE
  6. Impurities
  7. Burn The Bridge
  8. UNFORGIVEN feat. Nile Rodgers
  9. No-Return (Into The Unknown)
  10. Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife
  11. FEARNOT (Between you, me and the lamppost)
  12. Flash Forward
  13. Fire in the belly

Review

After releasing two successful Korean EPs in 2022 and making their Japanese debut at the beginning of 2023, LE SSERAFIM has returned with their first full-length album UNFORGIVEN.

The track listing is a chronological trip through the first two eras of LE SSERAFIM before getting to the new material in the album’s second half.

It may appear that you are being denied possible new songs in favour of previously released material, but when looking at the album as a whole, it makes sense to re-live the group’s journey from the beginning to now.

From FEARLESS, you get re-recorded versions of the EPs introduction and the two promotional songs from that album.

ANTIFRAGILE is represented by its introduction track and the two promotional songs from the EP. These are not re-recorded versions; Garam had already been removed from the group when this album came out.

There is no reason to review this half of the album in depth. However, you can refer to my reviews of FEARLESS and ANTIFRAGILE if you wish.

The proper album starts at the Burn the Bridge interlude, introducing listeners to the next era of LE SSERAFIM as the villains, choosing not to be restricted to the roles that defined their past selves and giving the good old Stone Cold salute to their cynics and haters.

That leads to the album’s title track UNFORGIVEN. It is a song that follows LE SSERAFIM’s themes of empowerment and how they are stronger together than apart.

The combination of the familiar sounds of the Wild West with catchy dance-pop beats makes UNFORGIVEN stand out among LE SSERAFIM’s previous a-sides. Adding some additional flair is Nile Rodgers, who puts his touches on the song.

But it would be best to listen hard to notice as it isn’t readily apparent.

The remainder of the album has LE SSERAFIM moving through a variety of styles of music and further expanding their repertoire. However, the most attention-grabbing B-sides are No-Return (Into the unknown), Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife and Fire in the Belly.

The last two tracks, in particular, piqued my interest. It’s probably no surprise that I would mention Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife since it appeals to my club music tastes. However, even if this style of music is not your thing, it is worth checking out to hear LE SSERAFIM detract from their usual sound.

As for Fire in the belly, I never imagined LE SSERAFIM would be able to pull off a Latin-inspired dance track. But they do it incredibly well. It’s probably the best album closer I’ve heard on an album this year so far.

To review this as an entire album is not possible because the reality is it’s three EPs bundled into one package. It just happens that the third EP takes up most of the running time at the end.

So I will say if you take UNFORGIVEN as an entire album, you can see LE SSERAFIM’s progression through each of their respective eras and hear how the primary themes of their music intertwine.

But if you want to get nit-picky, the third EP, which starts at track seven and ends at track 13, is very consistent with LE SSERAFIM’s previous offerings. And while it may not be as cohesive as some would like (and that’s subjective), it is a fun listening experience overall.


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