YB, who is into metal, “Overcame the burden and took on the challenge”… Support for juniors XDiz (Comprehensive) [DA:On-site]

‘National band’ YB has completely changed. They announced a new departure with a new album filled with metal that pierces the eardrums and breaks the heart.

On the afternoon of the 17th, YB‘s new metal album ‘ODYSSEY’ showcase was held at Hongdae Rolling Hall in Mapo-gu, Seoul. On this day, YB held the event at Hongdae Rolling Hall, a concert hall that was also celebrating its 30th anniversary, making it even more meaningful. The event was hosted by critic Im Jin-mo.

YB’s new album ‘ODYSSEY’ is a hybrid modern metal style album that YB is attempting anew. This work stands out with its intense DJ-based sound and new attempts that expand YB‘s existing colors, and it is characterized by the noticeable changes in the members, such as vocalist Yoon Do-hyun’s growling and screaming singing technique, Heo Jun‘s technical guitar playing, Park Tae-hee’s heavy bass, and Kim Jin-won‘s elaborate double bass drumming.

The album contains the process of a person losing his or her self and falling into confusion while suffering from external oppression and internal conflict, but discovering inner strength and hope, finding himself and starting a journey toward freedom. The character gradually rediscovers himself and eventually achieves true freedom by crossing the boundary between reality and fantasy. Yoon Do-hyun said, “This is an album that created the entire story of a protagonist. It took about two years. He explained, ”I made it while continuously revising and fixing it.“


Regarding the reason he decided to take on the metal genre, Yoon Do-hyun said, ”I’ve liked metal music and listened to it for a long time. After listening to it every day for over 5 years, I felt like I could do it, and more than anything, I did it because I really wanted to.“ He continued, ”I listened to a lot of death metal when I was young, but I lost interest at some point and stopped. At some point, as various genres emerged, I became interested again.“

He continued, ”I listened to a lot of metal music during COVID-19 and when I was fighting cancer. As I focused on the difficult performances, I fell into a state of selflessness and it gave me strength.“ He continued, ”At first, I thought about doing it as a solo project, but after discussing it with the members, we decided to do it together. It was a difficult path, but we decided to do it together.“ He also confessed, ”I think I developed the mindset of an athlete while doing music for the first time. If I don‘t practice repeatedly every day, I can’t play. I thought, “It‘s not bad. I practice three or four times a week,” he said, expressing his passion.

Bassist Park Tae-hee said, “I spoke seriously to our members. I was really grateful for that. It was also the opportunity that I had, and honestly, I was grateful that they shared the music of my dreams that had been dormant inside me with us before it was too late.” He also said that he felt burdened by the metal genre, but he was grateful for the help he received from guitarist and music director Heo Jun and drummer Kim Jin-won.

Heo Jun also said, “When I first said I wanted to try metal music, I felt a little burdened. It was a big challenge, but I’m somewhat satisfied with the result. I‘m satisfied because I got to practice in a way I hadn’t done before, so I feel like I‘ve improved a lot in other areas.”

Kim Jin-won said, “It was overwhelming at first. I remember performing heavy metal in Sokcho in my early 20s as an undercover band. Since then, I hardly used the twin pedal, but I had to take it out and practice again. I practiced for two years to see how far I could go from old metal to modern metal, and I squeezed out as much as I could,” he said. “When I first drew the outline, it felt like they were throwing it at me to tell me to work overtime, but as I took it one step at a time, two years passed. I had no choice but to create a routine and keep practicing. He emphasized, ”The drum mixing is so well done.“


YB’s new album contains a total of six tracks, including the pre-released track ‘Rebellion (Feat. Xdinary Heroes)’ featuring JYP band Xdinary Heroes and appearing in the music video, the double title track ‘Orchid’, as well as ‘Voyeurist’, ‘StormBorn’, ‘End And End’, and ‘Daydream’. Yoon Do-hyun said, ”Rather than being confident in ourselves, it feels like we‘re testing our limits. I thought six songs were enough.“ He explained, ”After promoting this album, I thought about what kind of album to release in the future, so I prepared it as a mini-album.“

First, the pre-released title song ‘Rebellion’ (feat. Xdinary Heroes) features JYP band Xdinary Heroes and they also appeared in the music video. Yoon Do-hyun said, ”I worked with Xdinary Heroes on ‘iNSTEAD!’. I participated with a growl. He said that I performed ‘Pororo’ as a metal performance for fun at a college festival and that he was so touched that he contacted me. The band itself tried growling, but it didn’t seem to go well. I went and did it for him, and he was so cute and good at playing.“ He added, ”This ‘Rebellion’ is the last song I wrote with the intention of performing it with those friends. I made it with a light heart so that you can enjoy it on stage.”

Yoon Do-hyun said about ‘StormBorn’, “It’s the only song with Korean lyrics among the album tracks. I felt happy through this song,” and expressed his satisfaction, saying, “I think I came up with some great lyrics, so regardless of whether this song is loved or not, I want to leave this as my greatest achievement.” He continued, “I said that I really wanted a song like this while making a metal album. I thought that it would be nice if the 30 years of YB’s history were captured in this song. It might sound old-fashioned to metal fans, but this is our color, so I really hope you listen to it.” Park Tae-hee said, “When I write a song, I make suggestions about the style I want it to be written in and have a direction, but this time, he wrote the song for me without saying anything. (Yoon Do-hyun) finished the lyrics and showed them to me, and I was shocked. He expressed his satisfaction, saying, “I thought, ‘Isn’t it possible for lyrics to come out like this?‘”

In addition, ’End And End‘ was also selected as the title song for the Netflix original ’Strongest Rugby‘ OST. Yoon Do-hyun introduced the album by saying, “Starting with this album, the path and direction of our albums have changed. It’s a song that strongly suggests our future.”

In this way, the new album is expected to be a new turning point for YB, moving forward into the future rather than looking back on the past 30 years. Yoon Do-hyun confessed, “I think we‘ll continue to make this kind of music starting with this album. I can’t guarantee it because I don‘t know how my mind will change. There were difficulties, but I feel like I’ve found a new path, and I think metal suits us well. After doing such a difficult song, I also think it‘s comfortable when doing other songs.”

Park Tae-hee confessed, “I feel like we’re about to embark on a new voyage. It feels like a ship called ‘metal’ is setting sail. The performance at Rolling Hall is likely to be the performance that announces YB‘s new first departure. I am grateful that I could do this work within YB,” he said.


He also revealed his thoughts on the 30th anniversary. Yoon Do-hyun, representing YB, said, “Looking back on 30 years, I wonder where we got here, but it seems like 30 years passed by because I didn’t do it with a goal in mind but just worked hard every day.” “I‘m trying to spend this year meaningfully. I’m also preparing a best album and a long tour. I think I was able to gain more courage because songs like ‘I Must Have Loved You’ ‘Love TWO’ were loved over the past 30 years. “Looking back on the path we’ve taken, I feel overflowing with gratitude,” he said.

Formed in 1996 and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, YB, a representative rock band in South Korea, consists of vocalist Yoon Do-hyun (guitar, keyboard, harmonica, etc.), bassist Park Tae-hee, drummer Kim Jin-won, and guitarist and music director Heo Jun. Representative songs include ‘White Whale’(2011), ‘I am a Butterfly’(2006), ‘I guess I loved you’(2005), ‘I will forget’(2003), ‘Peppermint Candy’(2001), ‘Letting you go’(1999), ‘Cigarette Shop Girl’(1999), ‘Love to’(1994), etc., and ‘10E’(2019), ‘Knife’(2013), ‘Stay Alive’(2009), ‘880,000 Won Losing Game’, ‘It Burns’(2006), ‘To live on this land’(2004), etc.

The album containing YB‘s new challenge will be released on the afternoon of the 26th. It will be released at 6 o’clock, and the LP, LP special edition, and KiT version will also be released at the same time.

Jung Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com
Photo|Sports Donga Kim Jong-won reporter .won@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.