ALBUM REVIEW: Defy – Of Mice & Men
Given the year that OF MICE & MEN have had, calling their fifth album Defy is incredibly fitting. After the departure of frontman Austin Carlile at the end of 2016 due to his ongoing health issues, it could have easily spelled the end for the band, but remaining members Aaron Pauley, Phil Manansala, Valentino Arteaga and Alan Ashby decided to carry on. With bassist and clean vocalist Aaron Pauley stepping up to full vocal duties, the Californian metalcore act proved through a years worth of shows and release of singles Unbreakable and Back To Me that they were more than capable of moving forward as a quartet. Now, the time has come to hear their first album effort since losing a key member, and to see if they have defied the odds in taking OF MICE & MEN forward.
Opening up the record is title track Defy, which comes across as the name suggests; defiant, punchy and powerful. The verse straight away gives a taste of Aaron’s unclean vocals, while the chorus chants of “I will defy” and lyric “I refuse to march into an early gave” reinforce the band’s fight and message of carrying on and moving forward, providing a solid start to the album. Smashing through immediately after is second track Instincts, a head turner of a track that grabs your attention instantly with a catchy, heavy riff that is reminiscent of 2011’s The Flood. A typical melodic chorus breaks up the thunderous verses while an impressive guitar solo crashes in towards the end, something uncommon on OF MICE & MEN tracks but a very welcome addition. One of the stand out songs on the whole album, Instincts takes the band back to their heavier roots whilst still maintaining the melodies that made them what they are today, and is the band at their very best.
Sitting on the first half of the album are Back To Me and Unbreakable, the first singles released and first glimpses of the ‘new’ OF MICE & MEN we were given. Both tracks are your standard OF MICE & MEN songs; upbeat, catchy metalcore. Back To Me steps back into empowering, sing-along territory with an infectious chorus, and a simple but effective guitar solo of the chorus melody really adds something extra. With a good balance of clean and unclean vocals and another catchy chorus, Unbreakable is a bouncy, fast tempo song that flows in the same vein as Would You Still Be There from 2014’s Restoring Force.
Changing direction slightly is Sunflower, which heads down the more atmospheric route. Beginning with a ticking effect, the melodic verses and chorus is more toned down than previous tracks, but the unclean vocals on the end of lines in the verse are biting with aggression still. Vertigo provides a fresher feeling and further showcases the improvement of guitars on this record, with more technical riffs that make the song feel lighter compared to the normal weighty guitar parts the band usually fall back on. The chorus is weaker, something that begins to happen further through the album, but it will still end up stuck in your head.
Sitting in the middle of the album is the band’s take on PINK FLOYD’s Money, which is a good, heavy twist on the original, but slowly starts to grow repetitive due to main riff staying the same almost throughout the whole song. Aaron’s vocals however are strong throughout and have a bit more attitude, which fits nicely alongside the music. After quite a punchy first half, the final portion of Defy has a more sombre feel to it, and takes a few listens to really appreciate the songs for what they are. How Will You Live doesn’t flow as well as other tracks on the record, but the chorus proves to be a real earworm and will get stuck in your head without realising, whilst Forever YDG doesn’t quite match up to its predecessors on The Flood and Of Mice & Men and feels a bit all over the place, but will probably hold its own better in a live setting.
Warzone is another track that initially feels a bit disjointed, but with its lyrics speaking about the stages of a panic attack, it begins to make sense. The quick pace, vocals and heaviness leaves you on edge, the shrill guitar before the second verse and towards the end of the song, and Aaron’s vocals wobbling slightly on the line “I am fighting back” adds to the unsettled feeling, and while the brighter, calmer middle section feels out of place, it works well with the lyrical meaning and gives impact as you’re thrown straight back into heavy mix immediately after. Ending the album in a totally different place to where we started is If We Were Ghosts. A slower, acoustic track (and the only one on the record) it suits Aaron’s vocals well, and the drums keep pushing the song forward and moving nicely, and is a nice way to end the albums journey.
Defy is a great collection of everything OF MICE & MEN are best at. From catchy, crowd pleasing songs like Unbreakable, the more atmospheric and melodic tracks like If We Were Ghosts and Sunflower, and of course the heavy, aggressive side with Instincts and Warzone. While capturing what makes them great, the band have also added and improved to their sound, in particular with the guitars with the more technical and varied riffs adding that extra ingredient that makes songs that little bit stronger and attention grabbing. Aaron Pauley steps into Austin‘s shoes with ease and it is nice to have a return to proper unclean vocals on almost all tracks, something that was lacking on 2016’s Cold World. The further you go in the record songs will need multiple listens to be fully appreciated, but the album as a whole is full of good, strong tracks. If anyone ever doubted OF MICE & MEN’s ability to carry on, Defy has almost certainly proved them wrong.
Rating: 8/10
Defy is out now via Rise Records.
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