FiveSidedDice – Kintsugi EP

Since 2008, Roscoe Nefdt (Undead Generation, Twiza, Whiskey & Ginger) has written, composed, and produced music as FiveSidedDice, an outstanding solo project from the South African town of Gqeberha. It’s one of those projects you definitely need to check out as soon as possible, as everything Roscoe Nefdt has recorded under this moniker sounds amazing. With many albums and extended plays under his belt, he has crafted a respectable discography, with each release featuring many marvelous tunes that will immediately resonate with anyone who appreciates cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music. With “Kintsugi,” his latest extended play released on August 8th via all streaming platforms, he continues to break the rules and shapeshift boundaries of several music genres at once. Heavily inspired by many reputable melodic punk rock bands, he has written, composed, arranged, and produced five incredible compositions that will immediately find their place on your playlist. But, of course, as is usually the case, FiveSidedDice also incorporated other complementary styles along the way, enhancing this listening experience to the max. Therefore, you’ll stumble upon some of the finest properties borrowed from pop punk, emo, alternative, indie, and maybe even some post-hardcore. The best part about this experimentation with so many subgenres is how they resonate in each composition. Instead of dominantly articulating through those songs, they serve more as enhancements, accentuations, and decorations, emphasizing all the qualities this clever artist incorporated here. And each composition shines with so many beautiful moments where all those genres get their spotlight without ever straying too much from the primary sonic direction. The artist also thought about sound quality, so you’ll notice that “Kintsugi” EP includes all the trends hearable in modern music production. You’ll hear all the instrumentation, layers, elements, details, tiny nuances lurking around with such ease, but its also one of those recordings that rewards repeated listens, because you’ll always find out more surprises this outstanding artist included along the way. It’s surely a brilliant melodic punk rock EP you should immediately place on your radar.

This epic sonic journey commences with “Misery,” an incredible song that effortlessly blends melody, harmony, dynamics, and power. With the initial notes and beats, you’ll notice how the cleverly assembled interplay between guitars shapes a luxuriant ambiance. On one side, you’ll hear all those catchy, memorable, engaging themes, melodies, and harmonies, while the other resonates with powerful riffs and chord progressions. Roscoe Nefdt’s voice guides you through each segment with such confidence, making this such a pleasant listening experience. His vocal performance is soulful and emotional, but also aggressive and raw when this song demands it the most. It’s a beautiful showcase of what you might expect from the remainder of the material. Roscoe Nefdt demonstrates all his songwriting and composing abilities on “Fear Of Heights,” a song that packs some of the finest ideas and orchestrations you’ll hear in a while. The song arrives with a perfect structure, decorated with many clever arrangements and profoundly detailed segments. It’s nearly mind-blowing how every segment is packed with catchy guitar work, and just when you think this song couldn’t be more complex, FiveSidedDice surprises you with calm, soothing, relaxing acoustic chord progressions. This guitar work complements his incredible vocal abilities to the max, making “Fear Of Heights” so harmonious and anthemic during the choruses. “Becoming This” packs tremendous energy, power, dynamics, aggression, and rawness. It’s one of those compositions that continuously levitates somewhere between post-hardcore, melodic punk rock, and emo, yet it somehow always ends up sounding like FiveSidedDice. The artist focused on those sheer dynamics, groove, and aggression here, and these are the moments where all those thoughtfully assembled, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics and intricate, groovy, warm-sounding basslines immensely support heavily distorted guitars and profoundly emotive vocal performance. You’ll notice how guitars, bass, and drums sound massive during the pre-choruses, where all those palm-muted riffs perfectly pair with equally powerful basslines, while the beats keep the momentum going. But there’s also a portion of melody, especially during the otherworldly, ethereal, relaxing outro, a piece of synth-driven cinematic ambiance that perfectly transitions into “The Angel Number” intro. This cinematic ambiance continues throughout the majority of the song, but the artist gradually introduces a piano theme and incorporates it over heavy guitar riffs, intricate low-ends, and half-time beats. It serves more as an instrumental composition where FiveSidedDice expertly handles styles like emo, post-hardcore, and post-rock. This epic sonic voyage comes to an end with “Look Down,” a beautiful indie song where Roscoe Nefdt’s calm, subtly raspy, and immensely melodic vocal performance decorates lush chord progressions. Gradually, the artist introduces a rhythm section that decorates this brilliant song even more. Its stripped-down composition packs a lot of emotion, melody, and harmony, and offers a calm,  soothing, and satisfying conclusion.

FiveSidedDice is one of those projects you should definitely pay attention to. Roscoe Nefdt’s impressive songwriting, composing, and producing abilities, brilliant ideas and outstanding musicianship, and deep, poetic, storytelling lyricism that tackles all the senses position him as one of the greatest singer-songwriters nowadays. With “Kintsugi,” he proves that modern melodic punk rock is not only alive and well, but also has so many things to say in a way many renowned artists and bands could not convey through their music. If you’re looking for captivating, melodic, emotive yet raw, unfiltered, powerful melodic punk music, “Kintsugi” will be right up your alley. Do not miss it!