Of Mice and Men - 'Flowers'
Metalcore darlings Of Mice And Men ring in a new age of their music with genre-agnostic and melodic single “Flowers”
Of Mice and Men have returned yet again to beckon forth their newest project, “Another Miracle” (releasing November 14th via Century Media Records). if the singles are anything to go by, this album seeks to usurp audiences with some tracks leaning into a more perfectly monotone and emotionally serrated lyrical sound, coupled with potent and ferocious riffs punched through gritted teeth and colossal drum sections. This fresh pair of eyes looks to create an exciting new chapter for the band. despite some of these tracks wandering off the beaten path to find more expressive and fresh ground for the band, Of Mice And Men still stick to their roots in other singles and display that they are not here to play the same 20 songs at a show and walk home with a cheque, they are here for the love of the game and the beauty and fulfilment that accompanies musical evolution and progression.
Flowers takes this crisp new vocal sound to a whole new level. The raw and emotive lyricism contains everything you could look for in modern metalcore tracks. Lyrics of friends scorn? Check. Sharp and violent false chords? Check. The beauty of this song lies in the dramatic change of vocal tone between the chorus and post-chorus, slicing from a tension-building singing verse and chorus built around low notes and a more natural melodic sound before jump-cutting straight into a cacophony of false chords and chaos. This then doubles up for the second chorus, having both vocal tracks syncopate in brutal harmony, creating a truly immersive listening experience. This immediate switch is genuinely fantastic and honestly exciting. Vocals aside, this track would easily stand on its own two feet as an instrumental. The trudging double kick and snare rolls throughout the verse carry the gentle vocals through its duration before building up speed to break into a brutal halftime riff for the chorus, mixing brutal burst fire kick drum parts with the same snare and tom rolls from the verse but with an added venom that you can’t quite get out of your head. And of course, no metalcore song would be complete without a breakdown, and this one is juicy! Before fading out to a soft pre-chorus, the bands collide in a mesmerising display of metal synchronicity. Pulling out all the stops, Of Mice And Men manage to create a breakdown worthy of a Doom soundtrack to ring out the latter half of this single.
This album is likely to be a barnstormer, with the 4 singles that have been released in the run-up creating an excellent atmosphere for what’s to come. All that’s left to do as an audience is sit and patiently wait for this coming Friday. The band are set to tour the UK this December with landmark shows in cities like London and Manchester that are undoubtedly going to bring the heat. This band are no stranger to UK stages and have built a fantastic and longstanding audience over here throughout their tenure as a band, and I am extremely excited to see them continue this lineage with “Another Miracle”.
Words by Josh Pook
