Mob Rules - Ethnolution A.D.
The fifth disc in the Mob Rules catalogue, "Ethnolution A.D." is a nice progression from their past productions. Alot of power metal fans are like the fantasy book lovers. They want escapism. Fairies and unicorns, the princess being saved from the wizard to live gleefully ever happy. Spoonfed saccharine fairy tales where the conclusion is always a positive one with good triumphing over evil. If that's what you require to escape into the world of power metal then you are in for a rude awakening. Not the typical power metal fare, you will find no references to neither dungeons nor dragons. Instead the band has decided to drag us through the evolution of our planet and the acts of the populace. Touching on social and religious issues (suicide bombings and the Klu Klux Klan) and earth changing events (the fall of the Berlin wall), this is definitely not a disc to be taken lightly. Reality punches you squarely in the face, leaving your lip busted and bleeding.

"Ashes to Ashes (Dust to Dust)" is the headliner. Thick and crunchy with a hefty toxic dose of melody, it comes off as a sweeping piece that is reminiscent of both Kamelot and the early progressive business of Queensryche. "Day and a Lifetime" is a cruel ballad that sees Klaus Dirk sounding like a combination of other German singers, mainly Lenny Wolf and Klaus Miene. Pretty typical tune for a band from the genre, but with thicker guitars than usually found on lighter fare. The solo is a lively piece that bubbles and froths like the bottom of a waterfall where the rush of cascading wet meets the still pool underneath. Piano is sharp and poignant, slicing through the crashing metallic trappings with a crystal clarity.

"Unholy War" and "Fuel to the Fire" are throwbacks to past Mob Rules discs and have an epic flair that works well. "Unholy" is a child of bombast, showcasing acoustic passages mixed with vocals that boldly challenge the flourishing fury of the chorus. Catchy as hell too, and also a flashback reminder of Edguy's "Vain Glory Opera" days. Klaus is channeling a mix of Tobias Sammet and Mark Boals here. "Fuel to the Fire" starts out soft enough but picks up speed and power as the snowball rolls on till it finally gets up to a speedy clip. Nothing overly original on this piece though.

"Veil of Death" is stark and moody, a transition song that lets the echoing sorrowful guitar speak for itself. The electric is crying out in tormented anguish and the strings squeezed like blood drops from a bleeding heart. Created to touch a nerve, and it does, even if you are resisting this artificial button pushing of your emotions. How could you claim it is anything but beautiful...

Dark and punchy, "Ain't the One" chugs along like a creepy, shady stalker before opening up its pained soul for the chorus. Not anything spectacular but the chorus is fairly sweet. It has an exotic flavor towards the end with nice guitar. "River of Pain" is a blistering neo-classical fusion with needling guitars and "With Sparrows" takes the midtempo route.

These are neither great nor groundbreaking but falling into the grey area of indifference. You likely won't be repulsed by their presence but they bring little to the table either. Kind of like green bean casserole at Thanksgiving dinner. No one particularly looks forward to it, you certainly aren't going to be carrying a torch for it all year long but its a dish rarely turned down either. Nor is it remembered too fondly after consumption. The rest of the Mob Rules album is like that casserole. If the disc is being played, the songs are okay enough to sit through but suddenly out of the blue you are not going to say "wow... I really would love to hear "New Horizon" right now..." because it just isn't that great or different to warrant breaking out the disc for.

While I have viewed the disc as individual pieces, the first several tracks are intended to be parts to one single long-running epic. It includes the first seven "chapters" (songs) which do indeed make up the meat of the album and are where they spent the most time tweaking and mastering their trade. When heard as a single long-running track, it is a fabulous ride that dips from slow and subtle with classical influences to rip roaring double drum hammering dramatics to hymnic chaos. The way it has been seperated and broken apart is a welcome change though. This allows the songs to shine with their individuality, but yet can still be strung together and experienced as the one long epic, as intended. Bravo for not forcing us to sit through 25 minutes of self indulgence every time, yet still being proud and pompous enough to take the listener on a journey that can be relished in pieces or as a single entity.

"Ethnolution A.D." is a mixed bag overall but a giant step for the band and their placement in the power metal echelon. They are slowly working their way up from the bottom of the ladder to about a third rate band. No one is going to rank them with Blind Guardian or Stratovarius but they have managed to brush shoulders with Freedom Call and Heavenly at this point which is a giant leap of improvement. Their lyrical choices help them to stand out from the crowd as well, so a big kudos for daring to take that beyond the fantastical and ground it in the harshness of reality. Truth is often more stranger than fiction, and throwing that into the power metal fire sparks more interest than another Tolkien rip. Mob Rules has made an interesting disc, one that will ensure them a stronger fanbase as they head into the future and hopefully an album number six.

Written by Alanna
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Show all reviews by Alanna

Ratings

Alanna: 6.5/10

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RevelationZ Comments


Comment by VonSeux (Anonymous) - Monday, October 23, 2006

i've looooved the Ladder of melodic metal, lol.

freedom call and heavenly are on the second rate, aren't they?



Comment by Rodrigo Oliveira (Anonymous) - Sunday, December 10, 2006
This is a third rate review. It cannot be ranked with more decent reviews like the ones from Metal Observer, but it managed to brush shoulders with reviews made by people who started listening to heavy metal yesterday. And by the way: I think many times "wow... I really would love to hear "New Horizon" right now..." specially because of the great keyboard intro and the catchy chorus. At last but not least: Stratovarius has a lot of work to do before reaching the quality of Mob Rules releases, lyrically and musically.


Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Monday, December 18, 2006
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Comments: 245
It sounds like you have been listening to metal as of... maybe a few days ago at best. Stuff like "New Horizon" has been done five billion times over. Its nothing new under the sun. It does not mean that it "sucks" but to me it seems very generic and not something that I would dig the album out for. Mob Rules holds alot of promise and they could manage to create truly superb material from here on out. I've been listening to power metal for about 15 years now and thus it takes something really special to knock my socks off.

And yes, Stratovarius has been considered one of the "greats" for awhile now, more recent efforts (or lack thereof) aside... their run in the mid to late 90s was incredible.

Posted by Alanna (Staff)
Monday, December 18, 2006










Review by Alanna

Released by
SPV/Steamhammer - 2006

Tracklisting
01. Prologue
02. Unholy War
03. Ashes To Ashes (Dust To Dust)
04. Fuel To The Fire
05. Veil Of Death
06. The Last Farewell
07. Day And A Lifetime
08. River Of Pain
09. Ain´t The One
10. New Horizon
11. With Sparrows
12. Better Morning


Supplied by Target


Style
Power Metal

Related links
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Mob Rules - Official Website

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