OF MICE AND MEN | Defy | Album Review

Very few bands have gone through the ringer and have suffered as many blows as Of Mice And Men, even at their inception point of their career. Originally formed as a side project of Austin Carlile after his exit from electronic metalcore band Attack Attack, it is very clear that this project has always had trouble finding a core lineup throughout its history. Several band members have made an exit with just as many members entering the lineup, including their original clean vocalist Shayley Bourget (who is now in a new band named Dayshell) leaving his void to be filled by current vocalist Aaron Pauley. However, the band's biggest blow was given at the end of 2016 when Carlile announced his exit just over three months after the band released their last album, "Cold World", due to his long standing problems with Marfan's Syndrome, an illness that affects bone development and growth. These hardships affected his touring abilities with his band and cause him to go through several surgeries, making his departure seem imminent. This leaves Aaron Pauley as the sole vocalist handing both growls and clean vocals for the band. With all of this, and a good amount of perseverance, the band has arrived with a new album, "Defy", their fifth in their discography. What's in store with this effort and how does Aaron Pauley handle both techniques he has inherited as a requirement to be the band's official frontman? 

Music from this record has been floating around ever since April of last year with "Unbreakable" being the first track to be put out from this project, followed by "Back To Me" later that summer. When "Defy" actually got announced for release by the band, three more singles were issued as teasers for the project, those being "Warzone", the title track, and the Pink Floyd cover of "Money". And right from the get go, you can see that some of these are the album's strongest points, and some are much weaker. The good thing is that most of these tracks are very good and flow pretty well, notably tracks such as "Back To Me" and the title track, which opens the disc and sets the tone of what you'll hear throughout. This is a track that does a great job at balancing screaming vocals with singing, and it feels like a song that should be shipped to radio stations due to the fact that every aspect of this track blends together very well including the semi-breakdown that appears after the first chorus. "Back To Me" feels wholly like a radio single and "Unbreakable" and "Warzone" have the heaviness that longtime fans are looking for, even though I will say that some points on "Warzone" are disjointed particularly in how the guitar riffs are structured on track. It does redeem itself, however, with a surprisingly melodic section with clean singing and an ending that pretty much makes this track worth listening to. With that said, I think if you've listened to all five songs off of this album in anticipation and are expecting that the deep cuts will be very similar, you won't be disappointed. 

Unlike "Cold World", which was a much more nu-metal driven album that was divisive within the fans even though I thought it was fantastic, "Defy" seems to turn the volume up a little bit more in heaviness although there are radio-friendly aspects to this album that make it seem like Of Mice And Men are nudging their way towards hard rock territory. Good examples of this are on tracks such as "Sunflower", "Vertigo", and "How Will You Live". "Sunflower" sounds like it's going to be somewhat of a softer romantic track or an easygoing feel-good song, but it actually fits much in line with the rest of an album as being an alt-metal twinged metalcore track, and it's quite a surprise that actually brings out some good vocal melodies and palatable riffs. "How Will You Live" leans more towards the band's metalcore roots even though the construct of the song is radio-friendly in nature, but the riffs and drumming are mouthwatering and sound fantastic. But, there is also "Vertigo" which is one of the album's most unique tracks and is probably the best song on the entire record. This is the moment where everything really gets great, and proves wholeheartedly that the musicality, songwriting, and Aaron Pauley's vocals are well-executed throughout the album. There's so much to really sink into here, another moment being in the closing track "If We Were Ghosts" which was intended to be a sentimental goodbye tribute to Chester Bennington due to the fact that the band has toured with Linkin Park in the past. And while I don't think the song is as heartwrenching as it really should have been, I think it does work as a fitting closer and a very emotional and well thought out song. 

That's not to say that this album is all around amazing, as there are a few flaws and filler tracks. "Instincts", while very good at what it's doing, has a solo that goes on for too long and that could've been trimmed down a bit. Also, I'm not exactly feeling tracks like "On The Inside", "Forever YDG'N", or the cover of "Money" which can't compare to the original version obviously. These songs are not the best material from the album, but that's really just a matter of taste because all of them are well-written and are structured just as well as the standouts, so I can't really complain too much. Overall, Of Mice And Men prove why they are one of the better bands of their ilk with this excellent record, but I feel like this won't be the best material from this slightly altered lineup. The next album from Of Mice And Men will probably have the potential to improve upon what is featured throughout the twelve tracks that make up "Defy", and in turn further show the band at their highest point. However, I can't argue that "Defy" is still a fantastic record, because it is. Fans of the band who were left a bit bitter with "Cold World" will find things that they really appreciate about this record, and there are also the things that people who actually enjoyed that album and everything else this band has done like myself that will stick out. No matter if you disliked one album in their discography or not, there is still stuff for every Of Mice And Men fan on this album. 

RATING: 8/10

What did you think about the record? Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the comments below. And of course, these are only my opinions. If your opinions are different, awesome! If they're similar, then that's great, too. So, don't hesitate- comment to me about it down below. Take care.