Review by Benny, AKA @Codomomentality

For forever now, people have been waiting for a proper MAZE release outside of their usual digital single releases. As of 2022, the group has released seven singles under their current name, however if we were to include their discography from when the group had been known by miscast, then altogether the group has released a whopping 19 singles, with the first 12 being released between the years 2019–2022. Considering the group continues to still play some of those songs at their live performances, I have decided to include them as a part of their overall discography.

In late 2019, the group had released a self-titled mini-album consisting of 4 tracks, however since then we have only been given singles. With their 2022 rebrand to group we know now, MAZE have continued to release music at a slightly slower rate, and the fans have only become hungrier for more.

In early July it was announced that MAZE would finally release their much-anticipated first EP, titled BLASTELLA, with a release date set for July 23rd on digital streaming platforms. In this review, I would like to talk about the songs and share my thoughts with you. While I will try not to be biased, it has to be said that MAZE is one of my top 3 groups.

On 18th July, the group pre-released one of their first songs from the EP titled KawaEX feat.Tack朗, who is the singer of HUNGRY SOUND COMPANY and has previously been featured on AZ-ON’s FORTE earlier this year, as well as Leiwan’s Juniors Dominating Seniors Mountain a while back.

In my eyes, the song acts as a perfect introduction to MAZE’s music in general. This track features all of the key elements of a MAZE song—high pitched clean vocals over catchy synth notes distorted with autotune from all members, driving rap parts, nasty screams and chants provided by Asagi and Gomes and thrilling breakdowns—however, I think that Tack朗 is wasted as a feature here, in my opinion; it’s nothing special, and it feels a bit like they had a feature spot open for a song, but didn’t know who to pick. Overall, though, this feels like THE MAZE song!

ANTHEM starts off with a driving guitar riff and poppy synths which jump throughout the entirety of the song, and concludes to what feels like an anthem. This song truly shines the most when you listen to it with headphones, as there are a lot of hidden synth parts and bubbly moments. The chorus especially makes you feel like you can’t help but dance along to it, adding to its fun factor.

Speaking of dancing, FALL OUT takes no enemies and is the song that will make you want to dance on this EP. Of course, you won’t dance normally to this one; no, it will be one of violence.

The song opens with a riff that only seems to get louder, quickly followed by mosh parts that will be perfect for a Wall of Death. Rough screams are once again provided by Asagi and Gomes, followed by more synth pop vocals and screaming moments. Eventually, we enter into a long interlude featuring Saya’s rap parts and Asagi’s screams as well as an almost psytrance that releases into a slow breakdown with panic chords, which ultimately makes you feel like you are ready to get into a fight with someone. After the interlude, the song picks up again and takes us back into the chorus, before going into an extended chorus, only to bring us into complete destruction after a small glitch effect.

This song contains some of the most insane MAZE screams I have ever heard. FALL OUT is the kind of banger that will have you indulging in the crowd killing and mosh pit chants, and God, this is the kind of track that makes me excited to be back in Japan and fight with my friends from the MAZE fandom.

ROAR is the live chant song of this EP. It has already been performed since at least October of 2024 (sorry if I am wrong), and finally got its release with BLASTELLA this year. In April of this year, I was lucky enough to hear it a couple of times live, and it quickly grabbed my attention. There are a lot of rap parts from all the members in ROAR, as well as epic, big chorus which is the perfect moment to be lifted during a live performance. There are also moments during the small shout parts where fans will jump in the air and chant along with the members.

ROAR also featured a really nice EDM dance moment, something that surprised me when I first heard it. This is followed by another chorus and an extended chorus, with the song ultimately closing on a couple of screams.

Speaking of closing down, the final track of the EP comes in the form of BLOODINESS. For me, this is actually my least favourite song from BLASTELLA. It feels too slow for my taste, though it does include a couple of rap parts and slow chucking riffs, which I do appreciate. I also really enjoyed the little glitch parts that you can heard across the song, as well as the nice breakdown, but other than that, BLOODINESS doesn’t really feel like a worthy closing track to this EP, at least for me.

Lyrics wise, I can’t really tell you anything since I can’t speak Japanese, and most of time English! So, MAZE’s lyrics don’t really make sense to me, but that doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the EP.

Overall, I am really happy with the release of BLASTELLA! Finally, we have been given more than one single by MAZE, and I think that this EP was really nicely produced, but I don’t think we had expected anything less from MAZE.

Feature wise, I do feel a little bit let down, especially since MAZE have already had a couple of really amazing guests on their songs, such as singers like DEXCORE, ANNALYNN, AILFDOPA, Prompts and more.

Ranking wise, I would rank the tracks like this:

1. KawaEX
2. FALL OUT
3. ANTHEM
4. ROAR
5. BLOODINES

Lastly, I would like to thank Kelly, Amanda and Colin from Beyond Senpai for letting me share my words on of my favourite idol groups out there! Please be sure to follow MAZE and all of the members, as well as Beyond Senpai!

You can find MAZE and the members on these platforms:

MAZE Social Media:

MAZE X / Twitter
MAZE Instagram
MAZE Spotify

Gomes X / Twitter
Asagi X / Twitter
Uzume X / Twitter
SAYA X / Twitter

You can find Benny on X / Twitter.