SPV
2006
1. Prologue (Ethnolution AD Intro)
2. Unholy War (Ethnoloution AD Pt I)
3. Ashes To Ashes (Ethnolution AD PT II)
4. Fuel To The Fire (Ethnolution AD Pt III)
5. Veil Of Death (Ethnolution AD Interlude)
6. The Last Farewell (Ethnolution AD Pt IV)
7. Day And A Lifetime
8. River Of Pain
9. Ain`t The One
10. New Horizon
11. With Sparrows
12. Better Morning
One of my most anticipated releases of the year has arrived. A new Mob Rules album is always something to look forward to and I had not a shred of doubt in my mind that this would rule. All 4 full length albums up to this point have been gold so I could expect nothing less.
Well this officially makes it 5 albums of excellence. I love it when you can just depend on a band to release a great album. There are so many bands out there which are hit and miss and it's always such a disappointment when they hit those valleys because you know they are capable. Such is not the case with Mob Rules and I truly think they are the strongest active band on the power scene today. A lot of power bands succeed at making a couple good albums before their style gets old or the band fades but all indications are that Mob Rules are here to stay with 5 remarkably solid albums under their belts.
If you haven't heard them before then the sound is basically melodic flowing power metal with a variety of different approaches in the songwriting. The vocals are semi-high pitched and clear with frequent use of somewhat big choruses but not overdone. If you've heard them before then on this release there really isn't any huge change to the sound. If you liked the band before, you'll like this... if not... what the hell is wrong with you anyways? Really no big changes are needed as I tend to think this is a case of 'if it's not broken, don't fix it'. There's more than enough range within the Mob Rules sound from the beginning and that's important to a band's longevity in my opinion. I mean they've always had up tempo guitar driven tracks, some folky influences, some mellow piano moments, some keyboard driven tracks... inventive songwriting has always been the rule. If I had to pick an album this sounded closest to than I'd say probably Hollowed Be Thy Name.
The overall highlight of the album certainly has to be the 4 part Ethnolution series (6 tracks actually but they call it 4 part as 1 is an intro and the other an interlude). 3 of the best songs of the album are contained within and the other track is certainly not a weak point either. The Last Farewell is bound to be THE track of the album as it has some surprisingly heavy sounding guitar for the band and one hell of an epic chorus. All of this series works very well together and certainly could be a live highlight if they want to devote the time to do the whole. I predict they probably will for at least the tour off this album.
I don't know how even a remote fan of power metal could not love this band and this album. The songwriting is just fantastic as everything flows beautifully but with energy and not just cliche double bass speed and such. The drumming has always been a strong point in the band I'd say. Not extremely showy but well used. All in all, Mob Rules just make melodic, beautiful power metal with great use of orchestration, keyboards, and pianos without sounding too mellow. Not the heaviest band out there by any means but not lacking in what makes a band metal either. Everything on here just sounds majestic and epic without being pompous and overblown. Mob Rules continues to... rule.
Highlights: The Last Farewell, Ashes To Ashes, Unholy War, New Horizon
Rating - 4.5/5
2. Unholy War (Ethnoloution AD Pt I)
3. Ashes To Ashes (Ethnolution AD PT II)
4. Fuel To The Fire (Ethnolution AD Pt III)
5. Veil Of Death (Ethnolution AD Interlude)
6. The Last Farewell (Ethnolution AD Pt IV)
7. Day And A Lifetime
8. River Of Pain
9. Ain`t The One
10. New Horizon
11. With Sparrows
12. Better Morning
One of my most anticipated releases of the year has arrived. A new Mob Rules album is always something to look forward to and I had not a shred of doubt in my mind that this would rule. All 4 full length albums up to this point have been gold so I could expect nothing less.
Well this officially makes it 5 albums of excellence. I love it when you can just depend on a band to release a great album. There are so many bands out there which are hit and miss and it's always such a disappointment when they hit those valleys because you know they are capable. Such is not the case with Mob Rules and I truly think they are the strongest active band on the power scene today. A lot of power bands succeed at making a couple good albums before their style gets old or the band fades but all indications are that Mob Rules are here to stay with 5 remarkably solid albums under their belts.
If you haven't heard them before then the sound is basically melodic flowing power metal with a variety of different approaches in the songwriting. The vocals are semi-high pitched and clear with frequent use of somewhat big choruses but not overdone. If you've heard them before then on this release there really isn't any huge change to the sound. If you liked the band before, you'll like this... if not... what the hell is wrong with you anyways? Really no big changes are needed as I tend to think this is a case of 'if it's not broken, don't fix it'. There's more than enough range within the Mob Rules sound from the beginning and that's important to a band's longevity in my opinion. I mean they've always had up tempo guitar driven tracks, some folky influences, some mellow piano moments, some keyboard driven tracks... inventive songwriting has always been the rule. If I had to pick an album this sounded closest to than I'd say probably Hollowed Be Thy Name.
The overall highlight of the album certainly has to be the 4 part Ethnolution series (6 tracks actually but they call it 4 part as 1 is an intro and the other an interlude). 3 of the best songs of the album are contained within and the other track is certainly not a weak point either. The Last Farewell is bound to be THE track of the album as it has some surprisingly heavy sounding guitar for the band and one hell of an epic chorus. All of this series works very well together and certainly could be a live highlight if they want to devote the time to do the whole. I predict they probably will for at least the tour off this album.
I don't know how even a remote fan of power metal could not love this band and this album. The songwriting is just fantastic as everything flows beautifully but with energy and not just cliche double bass speed and such. The drumming has always been a strong point in the band I'd say. Not extremely showy but well used. All in all, Mob Rules just make melodic, beautiful power metal with great use of orchestration, keyboards, and pianos without sounding too mellow. Not the heaviest band out there by any means but not lacking in what makes a band metal either. Everything on here just sounds majestic and epic without being pompous and overblown. Mob Rules continues to... rule.
Highlights: The Last Farewell, Ashes To Ashes, Unholy War, New Horizon
Rating - 4.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment