Mob Rules
Stories From The Verdant Vale
Label: ROAR
Out: 21st August 2026
Playing time: 43:34
After a seven-year hiatus, the power metal band Mob Rules from Wilhelmshaven made their comeback with their tenth album to date, ‘Rise Of The Ruler’. And what a cracker it was. A 2-CD Earbook Edition was also released to accompany this album, featuring five new songs composed especially for it. These can now be found on the compilation ‘Stories From The Verdant Vale’. In addition, there are four older songs by the band, which were re-recorded in 2014 for the anniversary box set ‘Timekeeper’.
‘Savage Land Reprise’ begins with drums and brass, giving it a combative feel at first. Strings follow later on. It’s an epic intro, in which Klaus Dirks’ expressive voice can also be heard. ‘Master Of The Black Crow’ is then of a completely different calibre. Twin guitars dominate, driving the singer on. On ‘Masquerade Ball’, the northerners maintain a similarly fast tempo. In the background, the keyboards continue to lend a sense of grandeur. ‘Above The Maelstrom’ is then more subdued. Clean guitars accompany Klaus Dirks’ outstanding vocals. A powerful ballad. ‘Balance Of Power’ is then another typical Mob Rules smash hit. Here, the musicians are driven on by the drums. What follows are four songs from the early years, re-recorded in 2014. ‘Celebration Day’ is taken from the second album ‘Temple of Two Suns’ (2000). Bernhard Weiß (Axxis) was brought on board as a vocal partner in 2014. Meanwhile, ‘Insurgeria’ (featuring Klaus Dirks in a duet with Udo Dirkschneider), ‘Coast To Coast’ (2014 feat. Chity Somapala) and ‘End Of All Days’ (2014 feat. Amanda Somerville) had already been released one year earlier on the debut album ‘Savage Land’. To round things off, we then hear ‘Broken’. This song was released as a single in 2015. It would, of course, be interesting to hear how all these songs would sound in 2026.
On ‘Stories From The Verdant Vale’, we hear a selection of tracks from 1999/2000 and 2014/2015. I couldn’t quite work out why Mob Rules chose to limit themselves to these two periods. It’s still a pleasure to listen to the material, though. Naturally, this raises expectations for a follow-up to ‘Rise Of The Ruler’, which is hopefully already in the making.
Mob Rules – Balance Of Power: https://youtu.be/dqMMiyLCXG4?si=yv3Ue1QYcV8zzyjZ
Lineup:
Klaus Dirks – Vocals
Sven Lüdke – Guitar
Florian Dyszbalis – Guitar
Markus Brinkmann – Bass
Jan Christian Halfbrodt – Keys
Sebastian Schmidt – Drums
Track list:
- Savage Land Reprise
- Master Of The Black Crow
- Masquerade Ball
- Above The Maelstrom
- Balance Of Power
- Celebration Day
- Insurgeria
- Coast To Coast
- End Of All Days
- Broken
