Ah, special edition re-releases.
It’s easy to be cynical given for the most part these are cases of a band sticking a few forgettable tracks onto the end of an album to squeeze a few more pennies out of the fans. That said, it’s worth noting that in the case of Of Mice & Men, the re-release of 2011’s The Flood came along with four of the best songs they’d written at that point, including The Depths, which remains a highlight of their live show.
Now last year’s ace Restoring Force gets the reissue treatment. New songs Broken Generation and Something To Hide share the same US metalcore with a dash of nu metal sound, while the acoustic rendition of Feels Like Forever would be best off left in its original, loud incarnation.
The highlight is Never Giving Up, which has one of the most memorable choruses Austin Carlile and co have ever written. It acts as a similar insight as the last re-issue into where they go next: while they recently dominated arenas as main support to Linkin Park, they could be doing it all on their own in the near future.
Via Rise
