Although they’ve been making music for more than 15 years, Orange County based alt-metal rockers Of Mice & Men still don’t take anything for granted. For the band members, their long career and every new album is sort of a miracle, so it made sense for the quartet to name their upcoming ninth studio album “Another Miracle.”
“It really is a testament to our fans that have allowed us to continue this career and be on our ninth album because really I never thought any band can make nine albums,” said Valentino Arteaga, the band’s drummer during a phone interview a few days before the Nov.14 release of the new 12-track record.
“To be a band in our ninth album, that is another miracle,” he added.
The band will also mark the release with a record-signing session and an acoustic performance Thursday, Nov. 13 at Long Beach’s famed record store Fingerprints Music.
“We love doing all kinds of stuff like that with local record stores because we are music collectors ourselves. I myself have over a thousand vinyl records at home and we want to support the record stores because that’s where we found new artists, that’s where we spent a lot of our time growing up,” Arteaga said.
Orange County based alt-metal rockers Of Mice & Men are set to release the band’s ninth studio album “Another Miracle.” (Photo courtesy the band)
Formed in Costa Mesa in 2009, the band has played music festivals including the Vans Warped Tour, the Soundwave Music Festival and toured with bands such as Metallica, Linkin Park, and Slipknot.
Arteaga said the band, which also includes lead guitarist Phil Manansala, rhythm guitarist Alan Ashby and lead singer and bassist Aaron Pauley, considers their latest album to be one of their most personal and most expansive records.
“I would say sonically it’s heavy, it’s melodic, it’s got the balance of everything I feel like fans know and love about Of Mice & Men. But there’s also a huge amount of experimentation that we are hoping will reach a new audience,” he said.
The album starts with an experimental tune for the band with the song “A Waltz.”
“It dives into a style of metal that our band has never really done, adding a lot of theatrical elements, some interesting melodies and even some inspiration from classical music and cinematic qualities,” he said. “ We wanted to open the album with something that we’ve never done before. We’re kicking down the door and hoping people realize that we’re not just going to make the same album over and over again.”
The title track “Another Miracle,” is a more aggressive yet melodic tune with a positive message.
“It poses that question of what’s another miracle? What’s one more to help somebody who might need it. It’s just posing that question to the universe,” he said.
Another recently released single is “Wake Up,” which is a throwback to the 1990s with its shoegaze feel and inspiration coming from an alt-rock icon.
“One of our big inspirations for that song was Alanis Morissette and we reached out to her management in hopes that she may want to collaborate on the song, and the question is still going. She hasn’t said no to us yet,” Arteaga said.
But even if that miracle doesn’t happen, the band will continue to push on creating new miracles along the way.
“We’re showing no signs of slowing down. We love writing music, we love putting out albums and as long as there are people listening, shoot even if there aren’t people listening, we’re still going to make albums. We’re musicians and we love what we do,” Arteaga said.
Of Mice & Men
When: 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13
Where: Fingerprints Music, 3811 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach
Tickets: Open to people who pre-order the album.
Information: fingerprintsmusic.com/events