When a genre of Metal becomes eroded, it's common to see bands trying something different from the usual, looking for a personal way of making music, but keeping the inner features of the genre (obviously, there are those that just want to play and enjoy their music, without making something out of the limits, but's left this talk to another moment). And fortunately the Greek/Italian act WONDERS is trying something in the first set of bands told above, as depicted by the songs of "Beyond the Mirage". The album presents a fine and melodic way into Power Metal, with all its features and clichés as well, but with a clear difference: the approach in the melodies isn't only the usual one heard on Power Metal, but enriched with charming Glam Metal, Hard Rock and traditional Heavy Metal influences.

This mix creates a remarkable appeal that's hard to resist to, full of life and energy, and that's different (even for those boring people that insist on telling gross thins to protect their 'Metal pimps', those bands that are dead and insist on robbing money from the fans). It's really a delightful release, indeed. The album was produced by the band's keyboardist Bob Katsionis (who took care of the sound engineering, mixing, cover art, design and photography as well), with the mastering done by the hands of Nasos Nomikos. The sonority is strong, powerful and full of energy (it impacts in the ears), but carefully clear and allowing everything to be heard clearly.

There are 10 songs on the album (one bonus if you have in hands a physical copy of the CD, "Come On"), all of them showing a very good musical work. But "One Million Miles" (excellent melodies in a typical Power Metal song, fast and bearing hooks on the choruses and due the excellent keyboards parts, along with charming vocals), "Breaking the Chains" (this one shows very good elements inherited of 80's Hard Rock, as the charming chorus and ambiences, and what solid work can be heard on bass guitar and drums), "Here I Go Again" (this presents a heavier and aggressive appeal in some parts, with very good technical appeal on the guitars' arrangements), "Hold Me, Save Me" (this one shows some accessible traits that are really amazing, along with choruses with that influence that the genre inherited of QUEEN), "In & Out of Time" (wow, this one shows a mix between Power Metal melodies with an abrasive insight inherited of Heavy Metal), and "The Time of Your Life" are the best ones for a first time on the quintet's work.

It's obvious that WONDERS still has a way to go, because it's a young band. But "Beyond the Mirage" shows that the fans of the genre can expect too much of the quintet in a near future.