MOB RULES – Signs Of The Time Live

After 4 studio albums and 2 singles, the German Melodic Power Metal quintet of Mob Rules decided it was time to release their first live statement, namely the combined CD/DVD of Signs of the Time LIVE.

The product comes in a very nice package –- the booklet comes with lots of pictures and a great layout, and it’s all very appealing and inviting. Unfortunately, this euphoria only lasts until you slip the disc into your DVD player and the camera crew gets to strut their stuff. What could have been a nice production is totally ruined by a camera crew who either: a) was just standing far too low compared to the stage, or b) was positioned properly but was stoned. The entire movie is more or less filmed using two different angles -– extreme close-ups or from a frog perspective more akin to that of lice than a proper-sized frog. Of course, this is a very tabloid presentation, but it’s not far from the truth. It is a surprise that the band acknowledged this, as it completely takes the fun away from what probably is one of their most ambitious projects so far.

Moving to the music, Mob Rules is a completely okay Power Metal band -– with some solid songs -– “Lord of Madness,” “Among the Gods,” “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” and “Rain Song” -– and some worse songs -– no need to mention those here, that’s pretty irrelevant for this review. The music is deadly straightforward, though, there isn’t one single musical action during the DVD’s 122 minutes running time that hasn’t been done several times before, but it works if that’s what you’re in to hearing.

The band should work on their stage performance, though. Singer Klaus Dirks puts down a reasonable performance –- he sings well and interacts reasonably with the crowd -– but you are to be excused if you think the way Oliver Fuhlhage and Mathias Mineur put on their “look, I’m playing some seriously technical stuff here” faces when pulling off the simplest of guitar lines are a bit on the funny side, just to pick one example. The band shows joy in what they’re doing, though, and that’s of course important.

The extra material is cool, and all in all Signs Of The Time LIVE is a decent production. The music is okay, the performance okay, but the filming is horrible and makes it a tough feat to watch the disc in its entirety. The diehard fan should of course own this, but the rest of you may as well save that (hopefully) hard-earned cash for something else.