Rebellion
We are the People

It is the ninth album for German band Rebellion who are soon celebrating twenty years since that rebellious debut that was released in 2002. For this one they have taken a slightly different route by taking to a political statement, “they cover the time from the French Revolution until after World War II. The main message is that racism and nationalism are to be blamed for all the wars and destruction during the covered period.” Pointing the finger at the nationalists for troubles shouldn’t be controversial considering how their ideology leads to hostility between people only due to where they happen to be born, same with racism. But if you look at how such parties are gaining nowadays it may be a bit controversial and annoying to some, negative in a way but it ends with a slightly more positive statement about us who are the people. But what about the album that is produced by former band-member Uwe Lulis?

Heavy metal, familiar to the band’s fans in many regards with the raspy voice, aggressive riffing and powerful sound. It is also more modern and diverse compared with the previous release, they dare to explore some wider aspects of their sound, and that is something that in a way revitalises what they do. The sound is good, the vocals are probably an acquired taste, the message is sound but doesn’t take all the attention as you can listen to the album without really thinking about it. The playing time is fairly sensible with the CD containing twelve tracks and the vinyl one less, the vinyl might be a bit more sensible in that regard.

The album is good, the tracks are good and there isn’t that much to complain about. But I wouldn’t claim that it is an amazing album in any regard as it kind of have the same issues as previous Rebellion albums that it probably fits a narrower target audience, and I am probably not one of those. Still, I find it to be a nice album, a missing definitive hit song is one problem I have though, something like that probably would have raised the rating. The message is good though, and I think many of us needs to think about how we look at other people, especially those that are different from ourselves. And they are probably right that nationalism is a root cause of war and troubles considering that it is an ideology driven only by fear and ignorance.

Could be worth checking out, especially if you like the more powerful styles of heavy metal music. I find this to be one of the more interesting albums I have heard by Rebellion and it is quite enjoyable, especially the fact that they dare to be political – more band should be political as it often makes things more interesting.

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