Of Mice & Men - Another Miracle
I just talked about the new album, Flowers, from The Devil Wears Prada, and I didn’t like it much. It wasn’t a bad album, per se, but it was a boring and generic Octanecore album that had a few splashes of brilliance, only to show them adhere to trends. I decided that the album itself is bland and uninteresting, but Octanecore as a whole is losing its sheen. I’ve been saying that for awhile, but I’m really feeling the fatigue this year. I’ve been kind of looking forward to the new Of Mice & Men album, Another Miracle, but at the same time, their last few albums here been slowly underwhelming. Their last few records have been giving diminishing returns, and I’ve been enjoying them less and less, but they’ve still been okay.
I didn’t know what to expect with this one, because I hadn’t heard anything, but I was expecting a solid metalcore album with some Octanecore elements. That’s kind of what I got here, but not quite as good, or at least more interesting. This is a typical Of Mice & Men album, for better or worse; there are breakdowns, heavy riffs, clean choruses, and screams, but it all feels paint-by-numbers, unfortunately. Everything sounds good, but it all feels familiar, and not in a good way. It’s not a super interesting album, at least when you really look at it, because I’ve heard it all before, especially from them. Bassist / vocalist Aaron Pauley is a solid enough vocalist, but his screams are not that great here, and it’s interesting, because they were better.
I’m torn on this album, because it’s a solid enough listen, but I’m kind of bored by this. It’s also kind of long, clocking in at 44 minutes, and it feels its length after awhile. I’m just sick of this sound, but not really metalcore itself, just the hard-rock-ification of it. I wouldn’t mind this album more if they did something interesting, or they leaned into a heavier sound, but they’ve softened their sound over the years. They did really lean into an Octanecore sound a handful of years ago, but they got heavier for an album or two, and they softened their sound within the last couple albums. Of Mice & Men has been around for the last 15 years, and they’re an institution, but this is pretty safe. This isn’t one of the worst albums of the year, but it’s one the most disappointing.