Almost two years have passed since Mob Rules’s last piece of musical genius hit the Melodic Metal scene with a bang, and I’ve been waiting anxiously for what the harmonic masters would come up with next since. Their latest installment titled “Among the Gods” once again follows the core Mob Rules melodic style but deviates a little from the older releases. This one features a little less Power Metal and more tunes that are reminiscent of older slow-paced tracks such as “House on Fire” and “Hold on”. Also, there is less of that symphonic sound that is also prominent on many tracks such as “Temple Fanfare”. “Great, this is gonna suck” you must be asking yourself, but no, quite the contrary. While I believe that “Among the Gods” is arguably a tad weaker than some of the other albums because of the aforementioned, it still incorporates the same soulful guitar solos, amazing choruses (back up by Elegy’s own Ian Pary) and killer production that makes Mob Rules a band still worth hailing.

The album begins with three consecutive killers: “Black Rain”, “Hydrophobia”, and “Invitation Time”. When listening to these songs for the first time I was blown away, and thought to myself “Mob Rules has done it again!!”. “Black Rain” begins with a Gregorian-like chant that fits as a great background for the thick sound of escalating drums, strings and synths, and though I’m unsure whether Sacha Paeth contributed his mastery to this album, the fabulous production cannot go unnoticed. “Black Rain” is then followed by the stellar “Hydrophobia” which has managed to sweep me away and make itself one of my favorite songs of the year. The rhythm, the chorus, the celestial synths… they’re all so damn catchy! There is not a day that has goes by where I do not hum the chorus of this tune in the shower. Clocking in at 3 mins and 35 secs, “Hydrophobia” is unfortunately the shortest tune on the album, but I guarantee that it will last longer as you’ll want to hear this one again and again.

After the three killer songs, the album winds down a little. The songs get a little more melodic and lower in tempo, but a little too melodic and slow if you ask me. While most of the slow melodious tracks are what truly let the killer production stand out, I believe that there’s too many that fall consecutively one after an other. While “Hollowed be Thy Name” featured 5 heavy tracks out of 9, “Among the Gods” has 3 ½ out of 10 (3 1/2 because “Black Rain” can be considered as mid-tempo). Only at song 9 does the album pick up again with “Meet You in Heaven” which has Klaus Dirks singing his heart out and serenading the listeners’ ear with that distinct high-pitch of his.

Amply melodic and serene are two adjectives that appropriately describe the overall sound of this release. While Mob Rules certainly has improved by thickening their sound and mastering those rich melodies, I still believe that their previous releases to be a few notches stronger, but doesn’t mean that I’ll have “Hydrophobia” out of my head any time soon though!!