Review Summary: Treading water.
For fans of Of Mice and Men, 2016 feels like forever ago. When the band’s original lead vocalist Austin Carlile announced his departure due to health reasons, it seemed like the band was ready to wipe the slate clean and turn a new leaf with Aaron Pauley, especially coming off the heels of the extremely disappointing
Cold World, which saw the band experience an identity crisis of sorts. Were they trying to be metalcore, nu metal, alternative rock, or what? The listener couldn’t tell. The irony of the situation is that, ever since Pauley took over, the band has had (for the most part) a much more well-defined identity; however, the quality of their music has remained mostly stagnant. Of Mice and Men’s last four or five albums have all followed the same formula we’ve seen from many other bands in the mainstream metalcore/Octane-core scene, and
Another Miracle is no exception. Ultimately, your enjoyment of this album will almost entirely hinge upon whether or not this formula is still satisfying to you or if it has grown entirely too stale over time.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that Of Mice and Men take practically zero risks on
Another Miracle. However, that doesn’t mean that the songs themselves on the album are bad; they’re mostly quite good. There’s a reason Of Mice and Men have stuck to the same tried-and-true schtick for so long: because it works. Aaron Pauley may not bring the house down with his vocals, but he’s a very talented frontman regardless of the assignment he’s given.
Wake Up and
Parable feature well-sung and satisfying clean choruses, while songs like
Hourglass and
A Waltz rely far more on his ability to deliver screams and harsh vocals. As for the rest of the band, I would be lying if I said any one member delivered an instrumental performance that stood out in a meaningful way, but that’s mostly due to the album’s production (which we’ll talk more about soon). Despite this caveat, with the exception of a few stale moments here-and-there, the instrumentals as a whole are impressive and varied enough to keep the songs from feeling monotonous as the album progresses.
As hinted to before, one of
Another Miracle’s most glaring flaws is its production. The overall mix is incredibly inconsistent, and the drums in particular are far too loud. The album would’ve benefited greatly from a more balanced, dynamic sound. Instead, what we have is an album where the vocals and drums take turns being louder than they should be, and the bass is almost entirely inaudible. For example, in the opening verse of
Contact, Pauley’s vocals are far too low in the mix while the drums are, yet again, distractingly loud. This may be one of the most noticeable occurrences of it, but unfortunately uneven production is something that plagues the album as a whole.
It’s hard to listen to
Another Miracle without feeling like the band’s creativity has gone almost bone-dry. That being said, they’re still more than capable of churning out a handful of serviceable, though unremarkable, mainstream metalcore songs every few years. Disappointing as the production may be, it’s not like the album would’ve been a classic with a perfect mix.
Another Miracle (and really, the band as a whole at this point) is like the Kraft Mac & Cheese of metalcore. Safe, easy-going, and (depending on your craving) it might be exactly what you’re looking for. But at the same time, very few people ever choose Kraft Mac & Cheese to be their favorite food, or claim it to be gourmet. In a similar vein,
Another Miracle is perfectly fine, but it’s incredibly far down on the list of metalcore albums I would recommend to somebody who’s completely new to the genre.
3 out of 5
