(Review by Alekos Letter 7 Touloumis)

FIRE hails from the exotic Malta island, a land with minimal contribution to Hard Rock music. Without such a tradition, to say the least, most of us will possibly look in a weird way but truth is there are cases when notable bands pop out being an exception to the rule. In the Malta case, I tried coming up with a known band from over there; not that I could recall of FIRE anyway, who now release their second album in their career named Thrill Me, after their Ignite debut (2006).
The album has the same-title intro in its beginning in an AC/DC-like rhythm section style, later to develop a full mid-tempo pace with a very good refrain and a party mood. A nice track, with a rhythm guitar being hot and heavy, something going for nearly all the CD's tracks. Get It On comes next and is an equally vivid tune, with a rich chorus, even if I'd wish for the absence of some (for me) irritating a-la DEEP PURPLE keyboards. Listening to That Kind Of Woman is a martyrdom, since I cannot stand distorted/filtered vocals, while Come With Me speeds things up reminding of the Turbo era of JUDAS PRIEST (has a nice songmaking pattern, too). A classic BON JOVI hardrockin' style is visible in Always There, again seeing a nice chorus (the band's 'ace' point?) and an interesting wah-wah solo; this probably is - in my humble opinion - the album's most thrilling tune.
The sequel is quite pale with Hollywood being a disappointment and Crazy Lovin' sounding quite an average cut. The same goes for the Blues-based No More Pain and Where Are We Goin' - both tracks are total fillers - and Lost Without You sees FIRE trying to bring back the JUDAS PRIEST vibe but in a more modern approach. As an epilogue, Back Home has a fluent intro and ends up in WHITESNAKE-like smell being barely likable.
Either way you see it, FIRE is a band that has not much of a chance beating the odds, since it offers quite a small amount of impressive moments to the listener, who - in return - shall not spend much time in his/her first audition. The songwriting level of the band seems to be quite average, while the vocals in specific sound below par. This may be a result of the variety of the members' age (from 25 to 50, if the CD booklet photo is a good judge...) ending up in a conflict of influences. As a 'plus' I'd point out the album's neat production and the sparkling refrains; they cannot - though - save the day themselves...