Of Mice & Men
The Flood
Άλμπουμ · Hard Rock · 2011
Costa Mesa metalcore quintet Of Mice & Men step up their game on the band’s sophomore album The Flood. With pummeling rhythms and ferocious guitars, “O.G. Loco” opens revealing that they may have named themselves after a 2004 Megadeth song by the same name instead of John Steinbeck's classic 1937 novella. The screamed vocal shredding of former Attack Attack! frontman Austin Carlile is contrasted alongside the clean melodic tones of second singer Shayley Bourget, keeping things dynamic — especially on the machine-gun attack of “Still YDG'N.” With Bourget taking the lead on “Purified,” the song proves to be the most accessible, while “Ohioisonfire” focuses more on a bare-bones nü-metal approach as Carlile pushes the bar up on his demonic screeching, exercising rhythmic control and restraint. At just under two minutes long, “I’m a Monster” ends the album with a feral assault.