Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Of Mice & Men - Restoring Force (2014)
Making it big with their lucky sophomore album The Flood, Of Mice & Men were all set to follow it up. Joining them is current bassist/clean vocalist Aaron Pauley who had just left the band Jamie's Elsewhere (though he would later rejoin that band when they reformed). And there are some different tricks the band has up their sleeves...
As usual, the band has their blend of heaviness and melody in the breakdowns and choruses, along with motivational lyrics, all of which can also be heard in other bands like The Ghost Inside. With their 3rd album Restoring Force, Of Mice & Men felt like making some changes. The nu metal/hard rock hints in a few songs from The Flood are in full force here while making room for their usual metalcore. Restoring Force doesn't reach the perfect height of The Flood, but it's another amazing part of the band's tenure!
The album begins with a "Public Service Announcement". If you've only seen the song title, you might think it's an intro track. But once you press play, the song is actually a crushing metalcore attack with driving drums. "Feels Like Forever" starts off the album's different direction. The guitar grooves are slower. Austin Carlile's vocal range is more diverse, and he often takes on some clean singing that is reserved for Pauley in the melodic chorus. "Bones Exposed" continues what the band had in The Flood with fast verses that display Carlile's insane screaming and the slow chorus with Pauley's harmonic singing. The more hard rock side of things is exemplified in "Would You Still Be There". Slow and steady wins the catchy radio rock race, though in this case, it made that song another memorable highlight. It can really make their fanbase grow big.
Another heavy song "Glass Hearts" has more of that metalcore structure while Pauley's cleans continue to ascend in the chorus. The lyrics are quite relatable too, "These are the hardest four years of my life." You can say that about your high school/college years, though it seems like Carlile is singing about his time in the band, if he means in a "challenging but a good challenge" way. Either way, in any struggle, there's always hope, so don't let go of it. Next track "Another You" brushes aside the heaviness for melodic drama. "Break Free" is a bit of a diluted tune, but it's still fine.
"You Make Me Sick" takes the nu metal influences much further. It's a true heavy standout jam-packed with growls and violence. I sense some Slipknot vibes in both the music and the hardcore lyrics, "You serpent, you lying snake, you make me sick." The bridge has some guitar buildup leading up to a 18-second scream! Wow, just like in Linkin Park's "Given Up". A much better and heavier song than "Given Up" though. Up next, "Identity Disorder" has a similar structure to the previous track, though this song has more melody. However, there's not much different at that point, and while there's nothing bad about that song, memorability is out of the window there. "You're Not Alone" has an anthemic beat to knock other nu metal bands out of the park. Ending the original album is the melodic ballad "Space Enough to Grow". It's much better than the previous album's "When You Can't Sleep at Night", here actually showing deep strength. "Even when we give up all hope, there’s space enough to grow." Wonderful!
As with The Flood, Restoring Force is followed up by a deluxe reissue almost a year later, titled Restoring Force: Full Circle, containing 4 bonus tracks, starting with "Broken Generation" which is a true well-crafted highlight in both that bonus section and the album overall. "Something to Hide" has the groove-ish metalcore of later bands like Oceans Ate Alaska. "Never Giving Up" has the motivational alt-metal of Tremonti and what Architects would have in their later albums. The reissue ends with an acoustic version of "Feels Like Forever". Nice, but I prefer the original.
The amount of variety and talent shown in Restoring Force proves that Of Mice & Men are standing strong and breaking through metalcore boundaries. The band have been gaining more publicity and hitting the radio airwaves with their music, thanks to this album's more rock-ish tone. The freshness that goes well with their roots has won new fans as much as earlier ones. A new mature direction for the band is on the rise!
Favorites: "Public Service Announcement", "Would You Still Be There", "Glass Hearts", "You Make Me Sick", "You're Not Alone", "Space Enough to Grow", "Something to Hide", "Never Giving Up"