Whenever an album by a band who've been going a while, but yet I haven't heard of, drops through my letter box, it's always difficult to motivate myself to give it a spin. After all, if I haven't heard of them by now, surely they can't be that good? However, one listen to the opening track of this album and I was well up for the remainder. M.ILL.ION are a melodic metal band from Sweden, and released their debut album way back in 1991. Since then, they have popped out 6 albums, with this being their 7th, entitled 'Thrill of the Chase'.

The sound is not a million (no pun intended) miles away from fellow Swedes EUROPE, but with a much heavier emphasis on the keyboard sound, much in the same vain as the organ sound of DEEP PURPLE's Jon Lord. The up-tempo title track kicks things off, before tracks like 'Menace to Society' and 'Slave to You' will have you singing along before you know it. The melodies here are really strong, with hook laden choruses to match. 'The One Above' is a real highlight with a galloping rhythm surrounding a superb riff which gives the track it's stand-out signature.

Vocalist Ulrich Carlsson has a great voice, with a high range, yet still with the ability to add bite to the lyrics as best demonstrated in the likes of 'UFO'. The guitar work is hardly virtuoso standard but Jonas Hermansson does enough to maintain the album's decent musical standards. Also, the quality of the songs doesn't take a dip towards the end of the album, as the bizarrely titled 'Fires of Siberia', and the excellent 'Need to Believe' round off a very enjoyable 55 minute listen.

This is not just any old throw away Euro metal (and there's been plenty of that about over the years!), 'Thrill of the Chase' is well worth a listen, and I for one will be hunting down the back catalogue of this band - particularly a best of album released a couple of years ago. Are M.IILL.ION a hidden gem? On the evidence of this album, possibly so.

Rating 4.3/5.0

James Allman

Release Date: 26th May 2008