Customer Reviews

Among the Gods

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2004's Among the Gods is the fourth album from German power metal band Mob Rules. I'm sad to say I had previously written this band off as a Helloween/Rhapsody wannabe after hearing a bit of their 1999 debut Savage Land. That changed in a hurry when I ran across a clearance copy of Among the Gods. It took all of 30 seconds of album opener "Black Rain" for me to conclude "holy crap, these guys are good!" After a couple more songs that changed to "these guys are really good!"

There is actually a Helloween influence to Mob Rules's sound (former Helloween axeman Roland Grapow actually guests on a few tracks), but the band definitely has its own vision. There are nods to Helloween and Gamma Ray (show me a German band that isn't influenced by Kai Hansen) as well as Iron Maiden, Mob Rules-era Black Sabbath (obviously) and Judas Priest, but what really comes across is that the band is playing incredibly melodic, somewhat progressive, and very professional heavy metal. Among the Gods is epic without being cheesy, melodic without losing its metal edge, and is full of melodies, musicianship, vocals and songwriting that are all a cut above the norm.

Obviously, I'm now a believer. Melodic metal this good deserves to be heard, so I hope anyone reading this review that might be on the fence as to whether to try out Mob Rules will take the plunge and order Among the Gods. If you're a fan of bands like Primal Fear, Brainstorm, Gamma Ray, Iron Savior, and Last Tribe, you won't regret it.

Edition Notes: The special edition version of Among the Gods features a second disc with video content and bonus tracks, including the new studio song "Battlefield Control" and an amazing cover of Savatage's classic "All That I Bleed". This version makes a great album that much better.

The first time i saw the name of these band i was't interested because i thought a band with this name must sound terrible. But man i was so wrong these band is amazing one of my alltime favorite bands the singer has a super beautiful voice and the songs are so great "Black rain" is one of my alltime favorite songs and you can watch the amazing "video" at their web site. Olso their new cd is amazing..If your looking for a great power metal band check these band..

Mob Rules might be a bad choice for a band name for obvious reasons but this CD rocks. There are a lot of keyboards in each song but they add tremendously to the overall sound rather than weaken it. The rythms are solid and powerful and the vocals are excellent. The singer has great range and the melodies are very catchy. This CD grows on you quickly and is a frequent player in my catalog. The songs are quite heavy and will have you singing along in no time. If you enjoy power metal with a lot of melody you won't go wrong with this.