By: James Southworth
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
The relatively well-known metalcore/hard rock band Of Mice & Men had a lot of pressure building up to this new album. Lead vocalist Austin Carlile was diagnosed with a crippling disease known as Marfan Syndrome and had to leave the band. "Cold World" was the last album he was a part of. That was a very disappointing album to me and many other fans, but Carlile's vocal legacy still can't be denied. With such a prominent member gone from the band, clean vocalist Aaron Pauley took the lead for this album. I've always enjoyed Pauley's clean vocals, so an album with them in the spotlight was an exciting premise for me. "Defy" is surprisingly more metalcore tinged than I expected it to be, with a lot of unclean vocals interspersed with plenty of cleans. While this album can occasionally be generic both musically and lyrically, I think this is an overall fun and satisfying return to form for the band.
This album has a mostly promising start in its beginning half. Though I will admit that the title track is certainly a pretty standard pump up song in the musical and lyrical department, I can't deny that I still enjoy it quite a bit. I think it's easy to head bang along to, and the lyrics are good enough that I could see myself singing along to them in a live setting. Pauley is immediately shown as a very capable lead vocalist. His uncleans really blew me away, as they are rather intense and passionate. While I don't know if I could say he's a better unclean vocalist than Austin, he still isn't paling in comparison to him by any means. Of course Aaron's cleans are superb, and they are what really help make this album shine above its other metalcore peers. My absolute favorite song comes in "Instincts". Phil Manansala shows off with some sick guitar work in this song. There is an absolutely killer guitar solo here that is so much fun and put a big smile on my face. The musicality of this cut works really well, as it effectively shifts from metal to hard rock stylings constantly. Pauley is at his vocal best here, letting loose some guttural screams and some gorgeous cleans in a very catchy chorus. I also think this chorus is inspirational in a way that isn't generic: "Through disaster & decay/Survive to fight another day/When there's no time for you to question/Every single step you take/Press on, and trust in your instincts". If you don't listen to any other song on this album, at the very least take a listen to this one. There's at least one part of this song that I think everyone could enjoy.
"Back to Me" was the lead single that got me interested into this album, and I still really like it now. This track is straight up hard rock. It almost entirely utilizes Aaron's clean vocals, which makes it stand out all the more. The band sounds very together and confident in this song, making it a highlight. I like how this song is creative and accessible at the same time. The chorus on this song hooks you in immediately. I really hope that the band does more songs of this style in the future. "Sunflower" feels like what any of the songs on "Cold War" should've sounded like. It certainly has that early 2000s sound, but it doesn't sound like it's just leeching off of other bands from that time period. I enjoy pretty much every part of the song, especially the great drumming. "Vertigo" is one of the best songs lyrically on the album, utilizing vivid imagery: "My spinning satellite head/Disoriented/It gravitates & spirals/To find you instead, a means to an end". Musically, I don't think that I've ever heard OM&M do a song like this one before, especially in its interesting and unconventional chorus. This one is another major favorite of mine. I was surprised to see that the band covered Pink Floyd's "Money", but the cover is really good and actually has a nice groove to it. "Forever YDG'n" has the band's signature sound in it, and was a delight to listen to. While it is cheesy, I don't think that the band was taking themselves too seriously on the song. The self awareness is what makes this track work. The album ends off with a powerful, emotive track in "If We Were Ghosts". I'm glad that the band decided to do a ballad again, because they haven't accomplished a cut like this since "Restoring Force". I read where this song is dedicated to Chester Bennington, which makes the song all the more touching for me. I think it's easily one of the best written on the album, and leaves the album out on a high note.
There are many high points on this album, but there are also some lows that can't be ignored. "Unbreakable" is so standard for metalcore in almost every way possible. The song title implies exactly what the song is about. The annoying, overly done chorus doesn't do this song any service either, especially with these lyrics: "I'm unbreakable/Can't defeat me, though I'm bleeding/Unbreakable/Though I'm bending, I'll never break". Everything about this track makes it feel like it was made just to have radio success, and its additional pandering to the band's fanbase makes this my least favorite song on the album. "Warzone" only utilizes a couple different lyrical shifts, which makes this song feel way too repetitive. Pauley sounds unengaged throughout this song. He only utilizes his uncleans, making this track feel weaker as his cleans are much better than his screams. "How Will You Live" also feels like a song that was simply made to be radio ready, and really is more of a filler track on this album. While not necessarily that bad, "On the Inside" didn't do much of anything for me. It is unfortunate how most of least favorite songs come near the ending half of "Defy", which makes the ending of this album mostly feel generic and unmemorable.
My relationship with Of Mice & Men has always been shifting. The only time where I could ever say I loved the band was with "Restoring Force". Every other album of theirs is something that I have either felt mostly indifferent about (their first two releases) or have straight up disliked ("Cold World"). While I wouldn't say "Defy" is anything legendary or game changing, I don't think that was the band's goal with this release. Instead, I could hear them attempting to go back to their roots, while also making something that would keep this album from feeling like too much of the same. I really enjoyed this release overall. As I kept going back to it, I liked it even more. I don't see this being one of my favorite albums of the year or anything. Still, it has enough good tracks, even a few great ones, to keep your interest. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Favorite Tracks: "Instincts", "If We Were Ghosts", "Sunflower", "Back to Me", "Vertigo", "Forever YDG'n"
Least Favorite Tracks: "Unbreakable", "Warzone", "How Will You Live"
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