One of the less-heralded but better bands on the European metal scene, Germany's Mob Rules should finally turn some worldwide ears with Ethnolution A.D. Five albums in, the band with the same name (but nowhere near the same sound) as a Black Sabbath album has never followed the sonic pathways of its peers, and Mob Rules isn't about to start now.
More than half of this album is devoted to the six-part title suite, a sweeping work about the clash of cultures around the world that addresses everything from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the machinations of the Ku Klux Klan to the current war between Israel and Hezbollah. It's the band's most ambitious statement, both lyrically and musically, with the majestic bombast of "Unholy War" and the prog-metal manifesto "Ashes to Ashes" leading the way. Mob Rules also incorporates intricate symphonic elements ("Day And A Lifetime"), Middle-Eastern influences ("Ain't the One") and a gospel choir ("With Sparrows"), seldom faltering and sounding like Queensryche in its prime and Iron Maiden at its most progressive. These guys would be a perfect fit for ProgPower USA.
Ethnolution A.D. is a smart, invigorating and rewarding album that proves heaviness and melody can, indeed, co-exist. It's a shame that, as Mob Rules makes perfectly clear in the title suite, the rest of the globe can't.
Track Listing:
Ethnolution A.D.
1) Prologue
2) Unholy War
3) Ashes to Ashes
4) Fuel to the Fire
5) Veil of Death
6) The Last Farewell
7) Day and A Lifetime
8) River of Pain
9) Ain't the One
10) New Horizon
11) With Sparrows
12) Better Morning
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