Band:	Mob Rules
Album:	Temple Of Two Suns
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	2000
Guest review by:	Mountain King

01. The Temple Fanfare
02. Pilot Of Earth
03. Outer Space
04. Celebration Day (Sun Serenade, Opus I)
05. Flag Of Life (Sun Serenade, Opus II)
06. Unknown Man
07. Hold On
08. Evolution's Falling
09. Inside The Fire
10. Eyes Of All Young
11. Hold On (Reprise)

It's always a pleasure to discover surprisingly great albums from relatively unknown bands. Every once in a while I stumble upon an album that impresses me with its level of musicality and the passion delivered through the music. In the case of this German power metal band I was really impressed when I first heard their debut Savage Land and continued to be marveled by their second full length Temple Of Two Suns.

While I can't decide which is the better out of the two, I really thought it would be hard to top songs like "Insurgeria", "Rain Song" or "End Of All Days" that are present on Savage Land, but Mob Rules definitely recorded more classics on Temple Of Two Suns, which are arguably more aggressive and keyboard oriented than songs found on the predecessor.

The album starts with the intro "The Temple Fanfare" which continues the theme of "End Of All days" from the debut. It even has the same clean intro as "End Of All days" before it kicks into an epic vocal and musical journey that starts the story of this album. It describes people who left their original nation "Insurgeria" and settled in an unknown land which is depicted in the album's front cover (the Aztec pyramid). A very interesting story that unfolds through each track, with songs such as "Unknown Land", "Evolution's Falling" & "Eyes Of All Young" being ultimate favorites. Each of these tracks represents what this band is all about. Klaus Dirks shows that his chords are still intact and delivers his best performance to date, which is notably very impressive on the great ballad "Hold On". The use of keyboards is eminent with heavy orchestration backing up the pounding riffs, definitely more than it was on Savage Land. Guitar solos written by Matthias and Oliver are well crafted, while not as memorable as the twin harmony on "Insurgeria", the duo shine with the heavy riffs they had brought this time. Last thing to note is the interesting drumming which is still present on this release, a very interesting feat that not all power metal bands achieve.

I recommend this album to all fans of melodic and power metal. You have the crystal clear production, fast double bass songs like the aforementioned "Eyes Of All Young" and mid tempo tracks with intelligent songwriting. Add to that the ballad "Hold On" which the band decided to record as a reprise. This band definitely deserves more recognition.