Izvajalec: M.ill.ion
Založba: Metal Heaven
Izid: 2008
M.ill.ion, exponents of the Scandinavian school of melodic hard rock, are Gothenburg, Sweden natives who have been raising hell around the world since 1989. Thrill Of The Chase is already their eighth release (counting one best-of compilation and one EP, of course). With the new album, M.ill.ion are getting even more determined. They don’t hide their ambitions, quite the opposite! Thrill Of The Chase clearly shows their determination to reach perfection in a melodic hard rock sound that was already well-honed.
Thrill Of The Chase carries heavy rock vibes. But hidden beneath them, M.ill.ion have a lot more going on than the conventional drone of the modern rock crowd. Despite the polished production and the pedantic, almost nitpicky restrained playing, the guys every so often sound incredibly old-school, maybe even conservative. M.ill.ion have distilled their own take on hard rock into an effective formula, modeled on the roar of long-extinct dinosaurs of the rock world. After Thrill Of The Chase opens with the title track and presents itself at first as a compact power metal assault, it’s The One Above that first gets the nostrils twitching after all those vintage moves, with M.ill.ion dutifully paying their debt to Rainbow. The hammond pushed hard to the front nicely shows Bergquist’s compatibility with a modern rock approach, giving M.ill.ion a potent ace of flexibility. Bergquist’s antics are influential enough that Thrill Of The Chase doesn’t let us get trapped in the monotony of polished guitar posturing, which is certainly welcome. Besides the solid, though to be honest not exactly spectacular riffs from guitarist Jonas Hermansson, there’s also the energetic vocal delivery of Ulrich Carlsson, who keeps the listener on high alert the whole way through. From the high-flying heavy metal anthem U. F. O. to the sibling-like rhythmic gallops of Slave To You and From Heaven To Hell, Ulrich never lets up in showing off the breadth and variety of his vocal range.
Quite apart from the obvious strengths of the individual players, Thrill Of The Chase is very much a team effort. Despite their obvious sympathy for the values of the past, M.ill.ion don’t allow themselves to play games with the credibility of their own voice. Their main ace remains the compactness typical of third-millennium rock music, where, for the sake of maximum impact, individual quality is put at best in the second row. The emotional winding through the high-octane Beware of the Wolf, Fires of Siberia and Through the Eyes of the Child, set in a flawlessly clean production machinery, only backs up what’s been written.
Besides devotees of modern-sounding riffing, Thrill Of The Chase will surely bring the most joy to fans of hard rock from the second half of the eighties. And indeed, the grand comeback of the latter can’t really be disputed these days. Claiming that Thrill Of The Chase will set milestones for the hard rock genre is hard, if not impossible, since M.ill.ion aren’t creating a musical revolution, but sticking firmly to traditional forms, given meaning by the unstoppable onslaught of homogeneous partying from the Scandinavian rock school, which by tradition already offers plenty of reasons to be satisfied all by itself.
Lineup
Ulrich Carlsson: vocals
Jonas Hermansson: guitar
B. J Laneby: bass
Johan Bergquist: keyboards
Per Westergren: drums
Production
M.ill.ion
Track list
1.Thrill Of The Chase
2.Menace To Society
3.Slave To You
4.The One Above
5.Lonely in a Crowded Room
6.U. F. O.
7.From Heaven to Hell
8.Son Of The Son
9.Through the Eyes of a Child
10.Beware of the Wolf
11.Fires of Siberia
12.Need to Believe
Album length: 54.43
