Mob Rules
Beast Over Europe

Mob Rules is a band I have known for a long time, I discovered then back in the days when Napster was the shit for downloading music on the web. It was a good source of testing out new bands and stuff, after hearing Rain Song I bought the band’s first two album and when the third Hollowed be thy Name was released I bought that one too. Since then I have not really followed the band as I have not received promos of their albums, until now. Now it is the live album Beast Over Europe that arrives 20 years after the debut album Savage Land. So they have a long career and fourteen albums to chose songs from.

The music can be described as power metal, or melodic metal with some symphonic and progressive touches. It is a live recording that seems to have been recorded at different venues; the talking is in English at times and German other times but it works and feels coherent. The variation is good and we get interesting songs from their entire career. The performances of the band are good, Dirks sings really well even though I like the way he sings on the albums (that I have heard) better. They also keep the playing time sensible and the production has to be described as really strong and a good showcase of this band’s career.

This beast is really good and enjoyable, and I think it is one of the better live albums that I have written about. All the songs are really good and I don’t think the album has any major flaws, other than perhaps the speaking between songs where Mob Rules are as uninteresting as so many other bands – less talking and more music is what I think. But other than that it contains everything a Mob Rules fan should ever need or want and melodic metal fans will probably also look upon this album as really good. It is entertaining and it is good, well worth checking out even though it is strange that they didn’t make a video or a vinyl but I guess you cannot have everything and it comes in a nice fan package for whoever wants it.

Even if I like all the songs on this album, I have to say that the old favourite Rain Song is the strongest one if the album and it is a great ending. But I have to say that Celebration Day from Temple of Two Suns would have been great considering that this album celebrates 20 years since the debut and the and celebrates 25 years so why is that song missing? But it doesn’t really matter and doesn’t change the fact that this album is really good and well worth checking out – Mob Rules fans should not miss it.

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