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Of Mice & Men’s Self-Titled Debut: Reflecting 10 Years On

Yasmine Summan

The early 2010s feels like a nostalgic heartbeat away, but a decade down the line and those defining years of crabcore, MySpace and Warped Tour gave the metalcore scene a swoopy bang, eyeliner-wearing facelift that saw a whole new era of bands rise through the ranks and push the boundaries for what can be achieved in metal music. Though a handful of albums from the likes of ASKING ALEXANDRIA, ATTACK ATTACK!, BRING ME THE HORIZON, and so forth have been upheld for bringing around the new cycle of Metalcore, one album that sticks out, in particular, is OF MICE & MEN‘s iconic self-titled debut album released ten years ago on March 9th 2010.

Their first album as a band didn’t come easy, followed by a string of controversy and lost members. However, over time it’s become a beloved favourite for their audience who acknowledges the authentic grassroots for the band. We’ll be taking a look at what made this album so special and speaking directly to the fans who were impacted by this album, it’s one LONG trip down memory lane.

Let’s circle back to 2010 for a moment, OF MICE & MEN established themselves by coming off the back of then vocalist Austin Carlile’s drastic departure from ATTACK ATTACK! At the time, this controversy was rife within the community, causing a split between the fanbase and inevitably shunting OF MICE & MEN off into the shadows.

 

However, upon the arrival of their debut release OF MICE & MEN established themselves beyond being something of Carlile’s ‘side-project.’ Charting in at 115 on Billboard’s Top 200 charts, it received mixed reviews with AbsolutePunk giving it a solid 67% whereas Sputnik Music only gave it 2.5. Suddenly this album sent the band from performing to a 450 capacity at Marquis Theatre, Denver in September 2009 to playing to packed out crowds of fans at both South By Southwest and Warped Tour in 2011.

Pinpointing the album’s sound specifically, one might argue that the marketability of this album came from Carlile’s diversion away from autotuning and the techno-influenced side of ATTACK ATTACK!, working with Joey Sturgis in the production process of their first album (who also produced fellow 2010 alumnis ASKING ALEXANDRIA‘s track The Final Episode). Songs like Those In Glass Houses, The Ballad Of Tommy Clayton…, and The Don’t Call It South For Nothing lean towards the more ‘metal’ side of metalcore similar to the likes of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, featuring some scorching guitar melodies, harmonious choruses layered with gang vocals and of course, many breakdowns. It was a refreshing and much-needed break from the cycle of repetitive crabcore, showing bands how they could grow beyond that pitfall crabcore sound for something more sustainable.

While their sophomore album The Flood came with much better reception, this album helped establish the band in their earlier years especially in their lyrical style. OF MICE & MEN have created an intimate relationship with their fanbase over the years for their brutally honest and heart-wrenching lyrics in tracks like Second & Sebring, where Carlile opened up about the death of his mother.

Although, truly the people who can best articulate what this album meant to them are the fans who lived through it. Here are their stories.

 

Charlotte Claber – Journalist and Junior PR

At a young age, I don’t think you can really grasp the concept of seeing a band live and the impact that moment may have. I had the absolute pleasure of seeing OF MICE & MEN in April 2012 at the real start of their trajectory and it really was that moment that made me understand the scene I’d entered in and where I’d find myself working towards today. Self-titled was such a bold album that defined a real era and cemented the band as one of the metalcore greats.

Sam Robinson – Photographer

Growing up with Marfan Syndrome always felt somewhat lonely for me, it’s a rare condition so I never really had anyone I could talk to, or even look up to. That changed when I came across this band called OF MICE & MEN‘s debut self-titled album.

Seeing someone like Austin accomplish so much and not letting his illness hold him back blew my mind! From then on, OF MICE & MEN‘s music were a constant in my life. I finally got to meet Austin in 2016 – this was my first time ever meeting someone else with Marfan so it was very surreal for me, he gave me all sorts of advice for an upcoming surgery I had at the time, which he had also gone through. Ironically and very cruelly Austin had to leave the band just a few weeks later due to his health complications from Marfan, I’m just grateful I got to meet him whilst he was still in the band.

OF MICE & MEN continue to be amazing to this day and will forever be one of my favourite bands.


Sarah Koruya – Long time fan

The first song I heard was, of course, Second & Sebring and I became OBSESSED instantly! The album was so sick to me and I felt like I had unlocked a vault of music that was for sure gonna change my life and my taste in media for a long time! I even wanted the logo of the album tattooed on my thigh, I’d spend hours reblogging lyrics from the album on Tumblr and posting them to my Facebook account! The whole nine! It’s still a staple in my music collection to this very day.

Lillith Vindictive – Model and Vocal Coach

The first song I heard off that album was Second & Sebring and I liked it because of the clean vocals. They were just pleasing to the ear, I liked the contrast between Austin and Shayley’s vocals and they were one of the first bands to introduce me to metal music. I tried to listen to other metal music at the time and it scared me! It helped me get into metal and then evolve and listen to the much heavier metal now. Austin Carlile was the first metal vocalist I looked up and tried to imitate which helped me later get into wanting to be a vocal coach and practicing. It was just his vocals that were so insane and the fact his writing was emotional. It was about actual shit and I had actual shit going on, so I could relate to it.

You can relive the good ol’ days below: