I am glad that we will got to hear more from The Boyz, particularly since the gap between their last official comeback (The Stealer) and this comeback is almost a year (to be precise, 9 months, but I rounded up)! The Boyz made their comeback at the start of August with THRILL RIDE, their most successful title track yet. It is featured on their 6th mini-album, THRILL-ING, which has also released on the same day. THRILL-RIDE and THRILL-ING is the group’s first domestic comeback of the year, and it also follows the group’s recent appearance on Kingdom: Legendary War, after the group won a ticket to the main competition through their appearance on Road To Kingdom last year.

1. THRILL RIDE (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review of THRILL RIDE. (9/10)

2. Out of Control (환상열차) – While THRILL RIDE was a lot brighter and peppy, Out of Control takes a serious turn with a slightly heavier sound. It features dramatic sirens throughout that really sets the tone for the song, and an intense EDM background for an otherwise pop melody. While I quite like the vibes and tone of the instrumentation, I kind of wished the hooks for Out of Control were more pronounced. Melodically (thanks to the vocals), it was quite satisfying. But I just found it was lacking that memorability. The rappers shined with their parts, and the bridge was hella smooth. (8/10)

3. Dance Til We Drop – Dance Til We Drop brings forth funkier vibes that just makes you want to get up and dance. I just liked how emphasized the funky sounds were, making this is another strong instrumental. I feel that the chorus could have used a bit more bite when it comes to hooks and melodies. What we got was more so on the pleasant side and doesn’t do the funky vibes from the background in the chorus justice. But overall, a fun and bright track. (8.5/10)

4. Nightmares (黑花) – Looking at the tracklist, Nightmares was the clear song that would act as the album’s outlier. Just from the title, you can feel a dark vibe. And well, Nightmares exudes just that. It starts off with haunting harmonization before the song’s edgy instrumental comes into play. I really like that consistent hit of electric guitar we get as the beat in the instrumental. The vocals (including the whispery deliver, the harmonization we get in the pre-choruses and the high notes we are treated to) and the deep tone rapping further emphasizes the dark aesthetics of the song. Everything in Nightmares came together perfectly, and the song itself is my personal favourite on the album. (10/10)

5. Merry Bad Ending – Merry Bad Ending combines the likes of EDM and R&B to create a pretty good song. While Merry Bad Ending is more of a vocally centric track, the EDM brings adds a rough texture to the song and keeps the appeal quite interesting. The R&B comes through via the vocals and adds smoothness to the song, creating a well-balanced track overall. The rapping adds a bit of edge to the song, which I find fitting with the EDM side of the song. (9/10)

6. B.O.Y (Bet On You) – The final song on the album is B.O.Y (Bet On You), a pop song with a nice blend of instruments and synths that I find extremely fitting for the season of Summer. I particularly like the use of acoustics in this song, with this particular element standing out over the synths for me (in a good way). The vocals and rap-singing adds some brightness to the song, and I liked the harmonies in the song. Altogether, B.O.Y comes off with a refreshing tone that makes it easy on the ears, as well. (8/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8.8/10