Review Summary: The album lacks passion, it lacks originality, and most importantly it lacks power. All of the vocals, instruments, and lyrics feel so weak. The album isn't heavy or musically pleasing, it sits somewhere in between. It resides in the land of Sempiterna
After my first time listening to the lead single off of Of Mice & Men's Restoring Force, "You're Not Alone", I honestly didn't know what to think. I remember feeling shocked, hopeful, and disappointed all at the same time. My initial "*** this" reaction was curbed only by a soft spot in my heart that seemed to cry out at the sound of newest member Aaron Pauley's voice. To me, the song itself was generic, lyrically deficient, and somewhat pandering. Yet I couldn't help myself from fast forwarding to the song's incredibly catchy chorus and singing my heart out. I was torn, but I kept optimistic, hopeful that "You're Not Alone" was just the tip of the iceberg.
It is no doubt that Of Mice & Men's Restoring Force was one of the most anticipated metal albums of 2014, especially in the younger metal scene. With the unimpressive memory of screaming frontman Austin Carlile's former band Attack Attack completely lost in the sands of time, and the contrasting success of Of Mice & Men's last release The Flood, Restoring Force had high expectations from most fans, and from me as well. Alas, with high expectations comes an even higher level of disappointment.
Restoring Force can most accurately be described in one word, forgettable. Although the instrumentation of the album is no prize, it is undoubtably ruined by the sub-par performance from Austin Carlile. Austin's vocal performance on Restoring Force lacks everything that made his performance on The Flood so incredible and unique. It seems as though the formula for each line on the album is 90% talking and 10% screaming. Not only is this particular method of delivering metal-core vocals lazy, it is also viciously annoying and tiring. This type of vocal performance usually compliments the music better when it is given by a vocalist who has a deep and powerful voice. Overall these type of screams do not bode well with Austin's thin, chirping vocal style. Luckily, there are ample breaks from the whiny yelling, filled in with the raw energy and passion of Aaron Pauley's clean choruses. If it wasn't for these choruses the album would certainly be harder to get through.
Aside from Austin's mediocre vocals, the instrumental work is definitely one of the weakest aspects of the album. Guitarists Alan Ashby and Philip Manansala seem to be stuck writing the exact same chugging riffs that fans of Rise Records have heard time and time again, only with a Slipknot rip-off vibe this time around. However, there are a few songs where the guitar work stands out and almost seems like actual riffing. "Feels Like Forever" starts off with a prog influenced, Tool sounding riff that separates it entirely from the rest of the album, and maintains a unique flow throughout the duration of the track. The guitars on "Break Free" sound like they could fit right in on Linkin Park's Meteora. Despite these few gems, the instrumentals are nothing special, and are hardly impressive.
Lyrically, the album falls flat on its face. Every word of every song sounds like it has been recycled from other generic songs that we've already heard from other bands that have no lyrical talent. The lyrics mostly consist of unprovoked aggression, and disingenuous motivational speeches. The entire album is littered with obvious T-Shirt cash in phrases like "You make me sick, just go away" and "You disgust me" which leave so much to be desired poetically. To give listeners a break from the phoned in "breakdown chants", Of Mice & Men treats them with even more phoned in "get your lighters out" style cheesy chorus chants. Songs like "You're Not Alone" seem to pander to the, "Music Saved My Life" crowd that really didn't need anymore songs written for them.
At the end of the day, is Restoring Force a BAD album? No. There are many worse albums from much worse bands filling the shelves at music stores. What makes Restoring Force so frustrating to listen to, is the fact that Of Mice & Men has so much better music under their belt. With legendary performances on songs like "Second & Sebring" and "My Understandings" it is clear that the band has so much more in them than what fans got with Restoring Force. The album lacks passion, it lacks originality, and most importantly it lacks power. All of the vocals, instruments, and lyrics feel so weak. The album isn't heavy or musically pleasing, it sits somewhere in between. It resides in the land of Sempiternal wanna-be's and clearly phony hard rock albums that didn't quite live up to the hype.
