The Flood (Of Mice & Men album)

The Flood is the second studio album by American rock band Of Mice & Men. It was released on June 14, 2011 through Rise Records and was produced by Joey Sturgis.[1] On May 13, 2011, they released the song "Still YDG'N".[2] The album was leaked onto the internet on June 10, 2011, with Rise Records countering the leak by uploading the album on to their YouTube page four days before the release. The album debuted at number 28 on the Billboard 200, selling over 13,000 copies in its first week, making it one of Rise Records' best-selling releases at the time. It is also the first album to feature rhythm guitarist Alan Ashby, as well as the last release to feature bassist and clean vocalist Shayley Bourget. It marks a considerably heavier, technical musical approach from the band, and a stronger use of clean vocals from Bourget, having him lead three songs on the album ("My Understandings", "Purified" and "When You Can't Sleep at Night").

The Flood
Studio album by Of Mice & Men
Released	June 14, 2011 July 24, 2012 (reissue)
Studio	The Foundation Recording Studios, Connersville, Indiana Re: NRG Recording Studios, Hollywood, California
Genre	Metalcore
Length	39:24
Label	Rise
Producer	Joey Sturgis Cameron Webb (reissue)
Of Mice & Men chronology
Of Mice & Men (2010) The Flood (2011) Restoring Force (2014)
Singles from The Flood
"Still YDG'N" Released: May 13, 2011 "Purified" Released: May 24, 2011 "The Depths" Released: June 14, 2012
Deluxe reissue album cover
Artwork used for the deluxe reissue album cover.

The album was re-released on July 24, 2012 and was produced by Cameron Webb. The re-release has four new songs, all written and performed without Bourget, new artwork, and the acoustic bonus track "When You Can't Sleep at Night".[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	68%[5]
AllMusic	[6]
Alternative Press	[7]
Kerrang!	[8]
Rock Sound	8/10[9]

The Flood has been well received by critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100, the album currently holds a 70, based on five reviews, indicating generally positive reviews.[10] The album received 8/10 on Rock Sound, which described the album "A truly memorable, hip-shaking face-breaker of epic proportions." At Alternative Press, Phil Freeman rated the album three-and-a-half stars, and called the album "a genuine statement of artistic purpose."[7]

James Shotwell of underthegunreview.net awarded the album an 8.5/10,[11] saying, "While it has its moments of doubt, there is no denying the amount of hard work, passion, and emotion poured into every second of this record." The album also earned a score of 4/5 stars on Propertyofzack.com.[12]

Commercial performance

During its first week of sale, the album sold 15,000 copies in the United States. As of January 2014, the album had sold 139,000 copies in the United States.[13]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"O.G. Loko"	3:18
2.	"Ben Threw"	3:11
3.	"Let Live"	4:16
4.	"Still YDG'N"	3:11
5.	"My Understandings"	2:33
6.	"Ohioisonfire"	3:08
7.	"Purified"	3:35
8.	"Product of a Murderer"	3:51
9.	"Repeating Apologies"	3:43
10.	"The Great Hendowski"	3:06
11.	"I'm a Monster"	1:59
12.	"When You Can't Sleep at Night" (Acoustic by Shayley Bourget, CD only bonus track)	3:32
Total length:		39:24

Bonus CD on 2012 deluxe reissue

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Calm"	1:50
2.	"The Storm"	4:05
3.	"The Flood"	3:10
4.	"The Depths"	3:46

Personnel

Of Mice & Men

• Austin Carlile – unclean vocals
• Shayley Bourget – clean vocals, bass, acoustic guitar on "When You Can't Sleep at Night", additional guitars on "My Understandings"
• Phil Manansala – lead guitar
• Alan Ashby – rhythm guitar, bass on "The Calm", "The Storm", "The Flood" and "The Depths"
• Valentino Arteaga – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Joey Sturgis – production, engineering, mixing, mastering[14]
• Toby Fraser – art direction, design

Additional personnel (deluxe reissue)

• Cameron Webb – production
• Joey Sturgis – mixing, mastering

Charts

Chart	Peak Position
Billboard 200	28
U.S. Billboard Independent Albums	5
U.S. Billboard Rock Albums	6
U.S. Billboard Hard Rock Albums	3

References

1. "Of Mice And Men - The Flood CD @ Interpunk.com - The Ultimate Punk Music Store!". Interpunk.com. June 14, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
2. "Thoughts on new Of Mice & Men song: "Still YDG'N"".
3. "Of Mice & Men Announce Album Re-release". Heavy Petal. May 14, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
4. "The Flood - Of Mice & Men". Metacritic. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
5. Beringer, Drew (June 19, 2011). "Absolute Punk review". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
6. Rovi. "Allmusic review". AllMusic. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
7. Freeman, Phil (2011). "Of Mice & Men – The Flood". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. July 2011 (276): 110. ISSN 1065-1667. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
8. "Kerrang! review". Kerrang!. Kerrang!: 52. 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
9. Withers, Pete (June 24, 2011). "Of Mice & Men - The Flood Reviews - Rocksound". Rock Sound. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
10. "The Flood Reviews- Metacritic". Metacritic. June 14, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
11. Shotwell, James (June 3, 2011). "Under The Gun review". Under The Gun Review. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
12. Sharp, Tyler. "Of Mice & Men - The Flood (Reissue) review". Property of Zack. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
13. "Archived". Archived from the original on January 29, 2014.
14. "The Flood - Of Mice & Men". AllMusic. June 14, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.