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2014’s ‘Men of Honor’ is the second full-length album by American metal band Adrenaline Mob. It is the bands fifth overall release in just three years of existence, and follows on with the same sound and style the band have polished and refined over the years prior.
If the name of the band wasn’t a big enough clue, Adrenaline Mob’s formula is simple... heavy, melodic and grooving metal, with aggressive and powerful vocals. Lyrical themes include the usual, manly, testosterone-induced stupidity, such as “feeling the adrenaline”, fighting, loyalty (to “the family”, or course), various pseudo-gang references and the occasional soppy tune too. But you don’t go into an album by a band like this expecting deep, meaningful introspection. This is high-voltage, fist-pumping rock at its finest.
The production on ‘Men of Honor’ is fantastic. Heavy, beefy guitars are well accompanied by a thumping bass and a pounding drum to make this an incredibly “loud” album, and the performances by everyone are exceptional. Guitarist Mike Orlando is an absolute riff machine and his guitar solos wail away at dizzying speeds, and Russell Allen’s vocals, as always, are unmatched, whether loud and aggressive or quiet and beautiful, the guy is one of metal’s all time greats.
With highlights including ‘Dearly Departed’, ‘House of Lies’, ‘Mob is Back’, ‘Judgment Day’, ‘Let It Go’, the title track itself and the beautiful ‘Fallin’ to Pieces’, it’s clear that there’s an abundance of groove metal anthems here, that, as touched upon above, if you go in expecting nothing more than dumb, fists-in-the-air head-banging madness, you’re in for a huge treat.