Of Mice & Men – “Cold World” [Album Review]

You’ve probably heard of a band called Of Mice & Men. But, if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve probably heard of some of the acts with which they’re associated like Attack Attack! or Sky Eats Airplane or Glass Cloud or A Static Lullaby, and if you haven’t heard of any of those, I’m not sure what you’ve been doing for the past few years. This probably isn’t your cup of tea. You honestly probably don’t even drink tea… Loser.

This album was nothing like what I expected but everything I could have hoped for. The opening track of Cold World begins with a relatively chill bass line and is shortly thereafter joined by a vocal line that leaves you feeling meditative. The song gradually builds but never truly resolves to a climax. It’s almost a series of valleys, and it’s beautiful. It segues into “The Lie”, with a melodic line that’s being crushed by some kind of distortion/bitcrusher effect and leads into the first baseball bat to the face of the album. Beginning in half time with a grandiose wall of guitar chords, it quickly develops into banger with yelly vocals, some bounce and of course a hooky chorus.

The album’s general vibe is very “rock” with a few moments of bounce that are reminiscent of the breakdowns for which metalcore is most known. The riffs, while they tend to be short in length, have a repetitive nature to them that are super hypnotic, and a listener is likely to easily get lost in a sea of feelz and aggro rainbows, a colorful bouquet of noises that insight much head banging and knee slapping.

Tracks like “Pain” and “Like a Ghost” have a creepier, almost industrial or gothic?? type aggressiveness to the guitar writing, while I also couldn’t help but think Tool in some others, maybe due to the vocal performance. Die-hard Tool fans might send me hate mail, but “The Hunger” reminds me of some earlier Tool records. The vocals are dark, rhythmic, goose bump- inducing, and the guitars have TONS of dynamics, alternating between aggressive, syncopated riffs and lingering, ringing lines. The tom work also has a tinge of Danny Carey.

If you don’t check out this album, you’re prolly off killing puppies. Staaaaph! In summation, this album is everything I love about rock/metal amalgamated into 13 tracks. “So … come and get it.”

Cold World Track Listing:

01. Game of War
02. The Lie
03. Real
04. Like a Ghost
05. Contagious
06. –
07. Pain
08. The Hunger
09. Relentless
10. Down the Road
11. +
12. Away
13. Transfigured

Run Time: 43:33
Release Date: September 9, 2016

Check out the song “Pain”