Austin Carlile from Of Mice & Men grew up on Linkin Park’s music
Of Mice & Men opened for Linkin Park on the band’s European tour last fall, and the guys didn’t take the honor lightly. In fact, frontman Austin Carlile is a longtime fan of Linkin Park, going all the way back to high school.
“I bought ‘Hybrid Theory’ when I was a sophomore in high school,” Carlile told Revolver, referring to Linkin Park’s 2000 debut album. “It was the angriest thing I’d ever heard at the time, other than Pantera — but Pantera was my dad’s music, and this was the first record I really got into that I didn’t learn about through him. Linkin Park has been my band for such a long time.”
Of Mice & Men released their third studio album, “Restoring Force,” last year. The release landed them their first top-five spot on the Billboard 200 chart, hitting No. 4.
“We think of ‘Restoring Force’ as our first album,” Carlile said. “It’s the first one that really sounds like the music we wanted to make.”
Of Mice & Men’s deluxe version of the album, “Restoring Force: Full Circle,” Feb. 24. The guys were also supposed to be on the road with Linkin Park this winter, but the trek was canceled due to singer Chester Bennington getting injured.
- Record Store Day 2025: The 5 Best Vinyl Finds of Black Friday - October 2, 2025
- What is Post-Grunge Music? - September 29, 2025
- The 5 Best Bad Omens Songs That Define the Band - September 24, 2025