Mob Rules

German power metal band Mob Rules are celebrating fifteen years as a band this year and have released their sixth CD, "Radical Peace."

Speaking by e-mail, guitarist Matthias Mineur talked about the band's lyrical topics, how they conceived their band name and their musical influences.

Metal Mayhem: Mob Rules tackle some heavy subject matters on "Radical Peace" with songs "Children of the Flames" and "The Oswald Files." Who comes up with the lyrical content and where do you get your ideas from?
Matthias Mineur: The ideas are from all the things that we are interested in, politics, culture, different countries, economics, etc. When everything is well thought out I write down all the lyrics.

MM: On "Children of the Flames," it's obviously about Joseph Mengele, but is the song loosely based on author Lucette Matalon Lagnado's book, or did you transcribe your own interpretation?
Matthias: Our song is based on different information that we have about this terrible man and his unbelievable crimes. Our statement is: never let these injustices happen again!

MM: You are deeply rooted in German history, how important is it to convey this, good or bad, through your songs?
Matthias: I think we are responsible that all these terrible crimes will never be forgotten. This is one of the main reasons why we sing about these topics.

MM: How come it took three years since "Ethnolution A.D." to put out new material?
Matthias: We toured with "Ethnolution A.D." for about a year (Europe, Scandinavia, France, Spain, England, America), than had a lineup change and started afterwards with the songwriting. It all took its time but we had no time pressure so we let it go.

MM: Mob Rules keep evolving musically and lyrically with each recording. What do you hope to aceive with "Radical Peace"?
Matthias: The aim is and always was to make the best possible album. That we successfully evolved has to do with our bigger experience and with new musicians who brought a new dimension inside of Mob Rules. All his you can hear on "Radical Peace," I think.

MM: The production on "Radical Peace" is quality throughout. Who produced the CD and what this exactly the sound you were going for?
Matthias: We produced the CD by ourselves, with a little help from Markus Teske, who mixed the production. The aim was to evolve and develop our sound and reflect the bigger progressive attitude in our music. The songs are a bit harder edged and a bit darker as in the past, so we tried to transform this into the sound of the record.

MM: You do have that familiar Mob Rules formula on "Radical Peace," while still sounding fresh. What was your thought process leading up to writing and recording the new CD?
Matthias: We never think about new songs, new sounds, new approaches, we always let it go and see if we enjoy it. It´s sometime hard work (mainly for the 18minute "The Oswald File"), but we are both proud and happy with the result.