Adrenaline Mob - Men of Honor (2014)

Adrenaline Mob was formerly Mike Portnoy's first real band after breakout from DT, but soon M.P. found some other projects and his services in Adrenaline Mob was also discontinued. He was then replaced by A.J. Pero of Twisted Sister. The other members, guitar wonder Mike Orlando and Symphony X singer Russell Allen, stayed in the band. The line up completed with bassist John Moyer. With this new line up, Adrenaline Mob is back, with new album Men of Honor. The overall sounds closely followed their debut, Omerta, which is platformed on heavy metal, with extra addition of thrash, groove and progressive metal elements.

Mob Is Back, is the correct way to open the album. This song started with one minutes show off of Mike Orlando guitar mastery, with the following up heavy metal guitar intro riffs, Russel Allen would then laid his vocals on a a heavy power chords. This albums comes with significant proportions of modern nu-metal elements, the second song Come on Get Up is one of them. The mood then significantly changes to metalcore feel in the third track Dearly Departed, only that Russel Allen did not allow his vocals to be too harsh, but the metalcore minor feels is there. We are again switched into other nuances in Behind These Eyes, as this is an acoustic power ballad. Let It Go can be describe as post-90s Anthrax feel. Feel the Adrenaline is as the song suggested, a pumping heartbeat rhythm in standard heavy metal tunes. Men of Honor is yet another modern metal tunes, all with 'breakdown' choruses and rappin' line. Crystal Clear is the third acoustic ballad track, in the style of '80s hard rock. House of Lies is back to thrash power riffs, pretty much a blend between traditional metal and modern elements. Fallin' to Pieces, the final tracks is interesting strumming ballad with lots of tremolos effects.

This album happened to be very colorful and ranged in more diverse styles. There are two power elements on this band and this album. First is Russel Allen vocals, which is perfect in all songs, ranging from modern styles, ballad, heavy, and groove. He is such a versatile singer and Adrenaline Mob seems to successful in 'utilized' him to the maximum outcome. The second one is of course the amazing guitars works of Mike Orlando. He is very technical, the guitar distortions and tones sounds very aggressive and scratching ears. Both John Moyer and Pero keep up the rhythm sections with excellent feel. I think most will agree to see the second album is a big improvement over their debut. Enjoyable album, with strong vocals and shredful guitar parts.

Metal Harem class: ********* eight stars out of ten

Adrenaline Mob - Men of Honor (2014)
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1. Mob Is Back 04:35
 2. Come on Get Up 04:13
 3. Dearly Departed 04:57
 4. Behind These Eyes 05:35
 5. Let It Go 03:54
 6. Feel the Adrenaline 05:57
 7. Men of Honor 04:27
 8. Crystal Clear 05:03
 9. House of Lies 03:56
 10. Judgment Day
 11. Fallin’ to Pieces 04:58

 Mike Orlando Guitars
Russell Allen Vocals
John Moyer Bass
A.J. Pero Drums

Adrenaline Mob - Men of Honor album review