I’ve had the displeasure of mentioning, several times as well, that I find metalcore in general to be pretty stale. Most of the interesting releases from the genre are by bands that no longer exist or are so far in the past (or what passes for a past in this online age) as to be distant memories. However, eulogizing an entire genre is obviously a bad idea and God Plays Dice are here to remind me why that is.
Blending a very straight forward metalcore approach to chugging along with interesting solos and an overall non-standard song structure, the bands excellent but albeit short EP Martingale is a really great example of what more can be done with the metalcore foundation. Head on over the jump for your first listen!
I choose ‘Prism’ for two main reasons: one is the excellent, haunting line which opens the track and plays over the initial riffs. The other is the excellent construction of the riffs in the middle of the track. Reminding one of Misery Signals‘ Controller, these open chugs coupled with a face blistering solo really give the track its momentum and life.
A short bit of shredding near the end of the track reminds us that this is also a technical album. Indeed, the first track features a solo near its end that’s down right Dream Theater-inspired and that’s just great. This album really captures for me what needs to be done with metalcore today: the foundations are good; everyone likes breakdowns and chuggy riffs. But they’re not enough; you need to build more inspired structures on top of them. God Plays Dice have definitely done that and I can’t wait to hear more music from them.
-EK