AFM Records
2009
1. Children Of The Flames
2. Trial By Fire
3. Warchild
4. Astral Hand
5. The Oswald File - Prologue
6. The Oswald File - Desperate Son
7. The Oswald File - 11:30 AM
8. The Oswald File - Unnecessary Doubt
9. The Oswald File - A Dead Man's Face
10. The Oswald File - Did You Reach The Sun?
11. Waiting For The Sun
12. The Glance Of Fame
With each progressive album Mob Rules has become more and more a favorite of mine. At this point I would consider them one of the most consistent active power metal bands in the scene. Needless to say I was looking forward to this release and wondering where the band would go from here. On the last album, Ethnolution AD, Mob Rules added a fair amount of heaviness to their sound which was something of a new development for their style. Also, the band seems to have amped up their production from the stripped down, melodic approach of their earlier albums to a more epic, heavily produced and orchestrated sound. Not that they've gone to over the top symphonic metal, but there is a noticeably different feel on Ethnolution.
On Radical Peace it does appear that the band is following in the mold of the center piece of the last album, Ethnolution. The guitar on Radical Peace has a heavy feeling throughout and the album is fairly heavily produced with vocal layering/effects and backing orchestral touches. This is a big, epic sounding power metal album and less of the more subtle melodic tendencies of their early work can be heard here. With that said however, this is still Mob Rules and they haven't really lost their lack for melody... it's just now presented in a heavier way.
Really the band has not become a whole lot faster or really even more typical, but it does seem they are trying to reach a metal market geared toward heavier sounding guitar than their earlier albums had. I can't help missing the subtle melodies of their earlier material a bit and Ethnolution AD seemed a little more balanced between the heavy Ethnolution tracks and melodic power numbers like Day And A Lifetime. That said however, it's vital for a band to try new things and grow as a unit and I think that's what Mob Rules are doing. One cannot just keeping making the same sort of songs over and over again. The double edged sword of making music is that growth comes with the risk of alienating fans... but fans can be equally turned off by rehashes of the same songs over and over again (I'm looking at you AC/DC). Of course there have also been member changes and I'm sure that is also a a contributing factor.
The bottom line has to be that the songs are great. What more can you really ask for? I find a lot of memorability and hooks on this release with solid guitar and some good singing. In the end that's what it's all about and Radical Peace has it. The whole of The Oswald File (the band considers it one song so I will too) is just great and Astral Hand is one of my new favorite Mob Rules songs. I love the flow of that song and it's the perfect balance of heavy and melodic with a supremely powerful and memorable chorus. Awesome stuff. If you like power metal I consider Mob Rules releases a must.
Highlights: Astral Hand, The Oswald File, Trial By Fire, Warchild
Rating - 4.0/5
2. Trial By Fire
3. Warchild
4. Astral Hand
5. The Oswald File - Prologue
6. The Oswald File - Desperate Son
7. The Oswald File - 11:30 AM
8. The Oswald File - Unnecessary Doubt
9. The Oswald File - A Dead Man's Face
10. The Oswald File - Did You Reach The Sun?
11. Waiting For The Sun
12. The Glance Of Fame
With each progressive album Mob Rules has become more and more a favorite of mine. At this point I would consider them one of the most consistent active power metal bands in the scene. Needless to say I was looking forward to this release and wondering where the band would go from here. On the last album, Ethnolution AD, Mob Rules added a fair amount of heaviness to their sound which was something of a new development for their style. Also, the band seems to have amped up their production from the stripped down, melodic approach of their earlier albums to a more epic, heavily produced and orchestrated sound. Not that they've gone to over the top symphonic metal, but there is a noticeably different feel on Ethnolution.
On Radical Peace it does appear that the band is following in the mold of the center piece of the last album, Ethnolution. The guitar on Radical Peace has a heavy feeling throughout and the album is fairly heavily produced with vocal layering/effects and backing orchestral touches. This is a big, epic sounding power metal album and less of the more subtle melodic tendencies of their early work can be heard here. With that said however, this is still Mob Rules and they haven't really lost their lack for melody... it's just now presented in a heavier way.
Really the band has not become a whole lot faster or really even more typical, but it does seem they are trying to reach a metal market geared toward heavier sounding guitar than their earlier albums had. I can't help missing the subtle melodies of their earlier material a bit and Ethnolution AD seemed a little more balanced between the heavy Ethnolution tracks and melodic power numbers like Day And A Lifetime. That said however, it's vital for a band to try new things and grow as a unit and I think that's what Mob Rules are doing. One cannot just keeping making the same sort of songs over and over again. The double edged sword of making music is that growth comes with the risk of alienating fans... but fans can be equally turned off by rehashes of the same songs over and over again (I'm looking at you AC/DC). Of course there have also been member changes and I'm sure that is also a a contributing factor.
The bottom line has to be that the songs are great. What more can you really ask for? I find a lot of memorability and hooks on this release with solid guitar and some good singing. In the end that's what it's all about and Radical Peace has it. The whole of The Oswald File (the band considers it one song so I will too) is just great and Astral Hand is one of my new favorite Mob Rules songs. I love the flow of that song and it's the perfect balance of heavy and melodic with a supremely powerful and memorable chorus. Awesome stuff. If you like power metal I consider Mob Rules releases a must.
Highlights: Astral Hand, The Oswald File, Trial By Fire, Warchild
Rating - 4.0/5
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