Mob Rules
Tales from Beyond
SPV/Steamhammer
2016
As much as there are aspects of Mob Rules that I don’t mind, I could even say like, like their name (a favorite Dio sung Sabbath hymn) a quite decent singer and overall an ability to write memorable songs that they have honed through their past seven albums, tours etc. Despite having some lineup changes they currently lineup has been together with few exceptions for quite a few year and this album marks their return to the SPV roster, after a couple of albums on AFM that must have done OK, but failed to set the world on fire...
Now the band is known for their power metal that owes a fair bit to the Scandi scene, but also a good part to their native German scene… on this album they keep their style of melodic power metal which far too often looks into traditional metal for inspiration (lots of maiden influences and a fair few from the early Strato, Helloween, Gamma Ray camps)…
“Dykemaster’s Tale” the near nine minute epic opener, actually struck a bit of a bad chord with me… its intro is either some rearranged traditional or borrows too heavily from Bruce Dickinson’s “Arc of Space” to the point that it’s not funny… well as soon as the song begins, the Maidenesque/Dickinson solo worship takes full flight (not of Icarus or 666) and yeah if you can stand the similarities, it’s not such a bad track, although it feels very derivative.
From then onwards the album has its moments, always maintaining a certain level in its compositions, thankfully the two decades of existence have benefited the band greatly and made them sound very solid, unlike some other bands that are similar in sound, but really lack any finesse.
“Somerled” comes complete with some bagpipe intro and sounds a lot like latter day Iron Maiden, but diversifies itself sufficiently with rich keyboard textures etc.
“Signs” sinks into mid-tempo territory, but has a nice bridge and chorus that carry it.
“On the Edge” picks up some steam and manages to infuse more melody throughout the song, power-metallizing only during the chorus that suspiciously sounds a little like something I might have heard before… but I can’t put my finger to.
“My Kingdom Come” is another slow building epic with “medieval” lyrical imagery about kings and queens etc. While retaining the epic mantle, this is more power metal than trad even if it dwells on mid-tempo territory.
“The Healer” however has a quite Maidenesque vibe, despite approaching the whole thing from a Helloween angle. It just disappoints a bit as the chorus is not defined enough. Nice guitar/keyboard solos too, that trade off at some points.
“Dust of Vengeance” has a quiet “metal” title – that’s rich in mozzarella and double bass, taking the whole Helloween/Ray school for a trip to the North, where some Scandi bands were doing the whole thing, much harder.
Next up is a trilogy – in discreet songs, “A Tale from Beyond (Part 1: Through the Eye of the Storm), (Part 2: A Mirror Inside) & (Part 3: Science Save Me!) that is interesting enough with all the ideas, including some weird choirs in the first song, some more folk inspired and temperate in the second part and a quite dramatic and elegiac conclusion prior to a bunch of nice solos and the final one with a decidedly more prog touch, bringing some closure. It’s a bit infatuated, but not too boring… as these trilogies or 15 minute songs can come out really crappy if you ‘re not really inspired. This one trilogy is not some brilliant masterpiece, by any means, but at least didn’t cause me to yawn like some others recently.
Last but not least, “Outer Space” a bonus track sounds a bit like a Maidenesque Gamma Ray/Iron Savior tune, done by another band and is not all that bad.
All in all, a fair band that plays safe and doesn’t really manage to excel but at least offers a considerable attempt in these days of overabundance.
Now the band is known for their power metal that owes a fair bit to the Scandi scene, but also a good part to their native German scene… on this album they keep their style of melodic power metal which far too often looks into traditional metal for inspiration (lots of maiden influences and a fair few from the early Strato, Helloween, Gamma Ray camps)…
“Dykemaster’s Tale” the near nine minute epic opener, actually struck a bit of a bad chord with me… its intro is either some rearranged traditional or borrows too heavily from Bruce Dickinson’s “Arc of Space” to the point that it’s not funny… well as soon as the song begins, the Maidenesque/Dickinson solo worship takes full flight (not of Icarus or 666) and yeah if you can stand the similarities, it’s not such a bad track, although it feels very derivative.
From then onwards the album has its moments, always maintaining a certain level in its compositions, thankfully the two decades of existence have benefited the band greatly and made them sound very solid, unlike some other bands that are similar in sound, but really lack any finesse.
“Somerled” comes complete with some bagpipe intro and sounds a lot like latter day Iron Maiden, but diversifies itself sufficiently with rich keyboard textures etc.
“Signs” sinks into mid-tempo territory, but has a nice bridge and chorus that carry it.
“On the Edge” picks up some steam and manages to infuse more melody throughout the song, power-metallizing only during the chorus that suspiciously sounds a little like something I might have heard before… but I can’t put my finger to.
“My Kingdom Come” is another slow building epic with “medieval” lyrical imagery about kings and queens etc. While retaining the epic mantle, this is more power metal than trad even if it dwells on mid-tempo territory.
“The Healer” however has a quite Maidenesque vibe, despite approaching the whole thing from a Helloween angle. It just disappoints a bit as the chorus is not defined enough. Nice guitar/keyboard solos too, that trade off at some points.
“Dust of Vengeance” has a quiet “metal” title – that’s rich in mozzarella and double bass, taking the whole Helloween/Ray school for a trip to the North, where some Scandi bands were doing the whole thing, much harder.
Next up is a trilogy – in discreet songs, “A Tale from Beyond (Part 1: Through the Eye of the Storm), (Part 2: A Mirror Inside) & (Part 3: Science Save Me!) that is interesting enough with all the ideas, including some weird choirs in the first song, some more folk inspired and temperate in the second part and a quite dramatic and elegiac conclusion prior to a bunch of nice solos and the final one with a decidedly more prog touch, bringing some closure. It’s a bit infatuated, but not too boring… as these trilogies or 15 minute songs can come out really crappy if you ‘re not really inspired. This one trilogy is not some brilliant masterpiece, by any means, but at least didn’t cause me to yawn like some others recently.
Last but not least, “Outer Space” a bonus track sounds a bit like a Maidenesque Gamma Ray/Iron Savior tune, done by another band and is not all that bad.
All in all, a fair band that plays safe and doesn’t really manage to excel but at least offers a considerable attempt in these days of overabundance.