By Acadia Otlowski

When a band I love releases an album, I try not to get my hopes up. This is because, more often than not, the album that I desperately wish to like falls short.

I was concerned for this album when I heard the first single, “You’re Not Alone.” It sounds like the lead singer and screamer was making a desperate plea for his fan-girls to “relate” to the song. The only message is that they are not, in fact, not alone. The song has an unoriginal message and it gives off a pop music vibe that is off-putting.

That being said, I got my hopes up when I heard the first track, “Public Service Announcement.” The opening track has the same feel as the new tracks found on “The Flood” re-release. It has a harder metal sound than most of the album while still retaining the feel of Of Mice and Men. My favorite part of the song is when the band utilizes the emergency alert sound. This is by far my favorite song on the album.

But for its encouraging start, the rest of the album is nothing special. At times, the band seems to have an identity crisis. A couple times I felt as if I were listening to another band entirely. This is the first album with new, clean singer, Aaron Pauley. It shows. The second song, “Feels like Forever,” is sort of a bizarre Linkin Park mixed with Seether. Or something along those lines. Both Pauley and screamer Austin Carlisle sing clean vocals in this song and it does not quite work.

Thankfully, “Bones Exposed” sounds like something off an older record. The screaming sounds more characteristic of Carlisle, but the lyrics lack originality. This is probably due the separation of former lyricist Shayley Bourget from the band. While “Bones Exposed” is probably my second favorite song on the album, it still lacks the originality that the songs held in the past.

It is clear by this point in the album that Carlisle’s love for the metal band, Slipknot, has permeated and taken over Of Mice and Men’s own sound. “Would You Still be There” is as generic as it comes, it could have been by any number of bands on the scene.

The opening for “Glass Hearts” is impressive and definitely appealing. The song opens with soft notes, which are ever so slightly distorted. These are joined first with a backing drum beat and then its is all but over powered by a guitar rift. Carlisle jumps in with a scream. The original notes play softly, creating impressive layers before ending with Carlisle’s screaming.

I can’t quite adjust to Pauley’s singing within the album. When he sings the songs written by Bourget live, the contrast is not quite as stark, but Pauley’s voice is not as unique. He sounds more like the clean singers of bands like Sleeping With Sirens, and unfortunately so.

The album is not horrendous, it sounds like a lot of music in its genre. The only music it does not sound like is music by Of Mice and Men. The band has lost their sound, perhaps because they worked with a new producer. Or maybe it is because the lyrics have the same themes as every other metal song. Or perhaps it is because Pauley’s voice does not quite match Bourget’s. Whatever it is, this is one of the albums that I should not have gotten my hopes up for. I will stick to old Of Mice and Men.