NEXT (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

: 넥스트; stylized as ''N.EX.T'' as an abbreviation for New EXperiment Team) was a South Korean rock band known for its provocative songs that critiqued social injustice. The band was formed by iconic Korean

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

singer

Shin Hae-chul Shin Hae-chul (Hangul: 신해철; May 6, 1968 – October 27, 2014) was a South Korean singer-songwriter and record producer known for being a pioneer of Korean experimental rock music. He was referred to by fans as the "Demon Lord" or "The Dev ...

and debuted in 1992 with the album ''Home''. NEXT went through several line-up changes over the years and has been inactive since Shin's death in 2014.

History

NEXT (New EXperiment Team) was the band of singer/songwriter

Shin Hae Chul Shin Hae-chul (Hangul: 신해철; May 6, 1968 – October 27, 2014) was a South Korean singer-songwriter and record producer known for being a pioneer of Korean experimental rock music. He was referred to by fans as the "Demon Lord" or "The Dev ...

(신해철). The group split up following the 1997 release of Lazenca: A Space Rock Opera, and the instrumentalists formed the alternative metal band Novasonic with rapper Kim Jun Pyo. N.EX.T reformed around 2003 following the disbanding of Novasonic, and they released the soundtrack to

Guilty Gear is a series of fighting games by Arc System Works, created and designed by artist Daisuke Ishiwatari. The first game was published in 1998, and has spawned several sequels. It has also adapted to other media such as manga and drama CD. ''Gu ...

XX #Reload. A few of its instrumental songs were re-worked into songs with vocals on the following album, The Return Of N.EX.T Part 3: The Book of War/The Diary of a Soldier. The Return of N.EX.T Part 3 included the song "Dear America" which featured many prominent Korean vocalists such as Kim Jun Pyo and

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

's Ahn Heung-Chan. Guitarist

Kim Se-hwang Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese fo ...

released his first solo album, Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, on June 27, 2011. In 2014, group leader Shin Hae-chul passed away after poor medical treatment for

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

. On August 8, 2015, the band made their last appearance at the

Pentaport Rock Festival Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival () is a rock festival which is held annually in Incheon, South Korea for three days in August. Launched in 2006, it is considered one of the biggest live music events in South Korea. The festival covers various ge ...

, along with other musicians, for a special memorial stage for Shin. Since then, NEXT has been considered to be on hiatus.

Themes

NEXT's songs contain many cultural criticisms, with "Turn Off the T.V." and "Money" pointing to mediation and consumerism. Criticism of human disregard for the environment can be found in "Lazenca, Save Us" and "The World We Made," which creates musical contrasts between a pleasant, natural world and a terrifying, industrial, human-influenced world. "Cyber Budha Company Ltd." tells of a dark future in which humans can purchase small amounts of divinity through the use of machines and credit cards.

Members

NEXT went through multiple line-up changes between 1992 and 2014. *

(1992–2014) – vocals * Jeong Gi-song (1992) – guitar * Lee Dong-gyu (1992–1994) – drums, bass guitar * Im Chang-su (1994) – guitar * Lee Su-yong (1994–1997, 2006) – drums *

(1995–1997, 2005–2014) – guitar * Kim Yeong-seok (1995–1997, 2006) – bass guitar * Won San-guk (2003–2005) – bass guitar * Devin Lee (2003–2006) – guitar * Dr. Juny (2003–2005) – drums * Dong Hyeok (2003–2005) – keyboard * Ji Hyeon-su (2006–2014) – keyboard * Yun Te-ra (2007–2008) – drums * Jade (2007–2014) – bass guitar * Kim Dan (2008–2014) – drums

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation and live albums

Soundtrack albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:NEXT Alternative metal musical groups South Korean progressive rock groups South Korean hard rock musical groups South Korean heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical quintets Musical groups from Seoul Progressive metal musical groups