Mob Rules - Hollowed Be Thy Name

*=Staff's pick	Hollowed Be Thy Name* Speed Of Life* (In The Land Of) Wind And Rain House On Fire Ghost Town* How The Gypsy Was Born All Above The Atmosphere* Lord Of Madness* a.d.c.o.e. Way Of The World

Genre	Heavy Metal	Klaus Dirks	Vocals
Tracks	10	Oliver Fuhlhage	Guitar
Runningtime	49 Min.	Matthias Mineur	Guitar
Label	SPV	Thorsten Plorin	Bass
Release	28 April 2003	Arved Mannott	Drums
Country	Germany	Sascha Onnen	Keyboards
Similar artists	Chinchilla, Avantasia

Something that goes like a theme in Mob Rules music is the majestic and rich and full arrangements. It' not as pompous and flamboyant as for example Rhapsody or Kamelot, but just enough to make it rise a bit over the average metalalbum, with the odd fanfare here and there and a wall of keyboards that adds that bit extra to it. After the epic opener and titletrack Hallowed Be Thy Name we are being served one fast song and a couple of more slower, epic ones before we are established in an order of a slow kind of uptempo song followed by a slower, more majestic one, and that goes on throughout the album.

I have never felt that Mob Rules' previous releases have been anything else than good, but average metalreleases, but with this effort they have taken one step further in my eyes. There is nothing overwhelming new and groundbreaking this time, but it feels much more solid and somehow more "metal". The reasons to that is perhaps that before they tried to play Power Metal without really knowing exactly how, but now they instead seem to focus on playing straight and heavy metal - and it works. The recipe is the same: simply built up songs with a base of good riffs, with a strong chorus and good solos. Certain fragments of Rainbow and Black Sabbath can be heard, but mostly it is the usual, common metalriff this is based on.

Songs that stand out are Speed Of Life, Ghost Town and All Above The Atmosphere - all with good pace, power and strong melodies. The very Rage-like tune How The Gypsy Was Born is also enjoyable, partially since Peavy Wagner himself makes a guestappearance on vocals.

Even though I am usually not a fan of a majority of slower songs on an album, I have to say that Mob Rules have made a good album in Hollowed Be Thy Name, and if they can keep this level of songwriting and develop their ideas and arrangements a bit further until next time a really good grade will certainly be handed out. A couple of more fast songs wouldn't hurt either.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tommy