MOB RULES - review added 11th November 2009
Album Review: Radical Peace (2009)
For fans of: Melodic Metal... and X marking the spot
Germanic metallers Mob Rules released the Astral Hand EP as a warm-up to Radical Peace. The title track was phenomenal, but the overall package was (otherwise) a waste of time - to find out why...head here.
Fortunately, that excellent track crops up again here. Question is does the rest of the release match up to it this time?
Mob Rules is Klaus Dirks on vocals, Matthias Mineur and Sven Lüdke on guitar, Markus Brinkmann on bass, Sascha Onnen on keyboards and Nicholas Fritz on drums. They are a skillful bunch of guys who play a heavy metal big on melody and phat, occasionally progressive sounds. Radical Peace has a lovely clear production and an indulgence of top musicianship.
Opening track 'Children Of The Flames' is a lively number with a huge guitar sound and pounding rhythms. It's like a semi-symphonic impression of a distant battle. The chorus is likeable, and the track as a whole starts the album off in real style. 'Trial By Fire' sounds like Threshold crossed with Judas Priest. It's as much of a monster as those comparisons would lead you to believe, abeit with some overly subtle moments. Loving the never ending solo though!
The slower, epically proportioned, 'Warchild' plods like a constipated monkey with an entire planet on its shoulders. It's a bloody impressive song, buy how likeable it is at any given moment is mood dependent. Next up is the brilliant 'Astral Hand' from the aforementioned EP. Yep, it still sounds brilliant. 'The Oswald File' is, are you ready for this, eighteen and a bit minutes long. Strangely, it doesn't seem anywhere near that length. It's a beautiful track that tells a big story with a lot of panache. Fantastically over-indulgent song of the year? Quite possibly!
'Waiting' is heavy with a capital 'H'. It heads into the realms of full-on power metal and, whilst not stupendously catchy, I certainly wouldn't classify it as filler. Final track 'The Glance Of Fame' has a slow build up into a mid-paced, mid-heaviness prog-influenced number. It reminds me of early Dream Theater in places and is a seriously classy song.
Radical Peace is a decent album. Whilst it isn't blow-you-away amazing, Mob Rules have definitely produced something to be proud of. I'm glad we can forget about that silly EP now and, whilst 'Astral Hand' is still the best track, at least we can go back to saying, "the latest Mob Rules release is worth buying"...because it is :)
Check out... 'The Oswald File', just for the sheer scale of it.
CD Track List:
01. Children Of The Flames
02. Trial By Fire
03. Warchild
04. Astral Hand
05. The Oswald File
06. Waiting For The Sun
07. The Glance Of Fame
Label: AFM Records
Artist's website(s): Mob Rules , MySpace
