EP Review/ Alternative : FiveSidedDice’s ‘Kintsugi’

FiveSidedDice is an alternative band from South Africa. They follow the energy, lift into it and claim it for their music. And the sound that comes out is bold, authentic and irrepressible. The band explores so many dimensions of the theme by tunneling creatively through the rock genre. Their interpretations feel so fresh and new. You can feel it in the energy that it evokes. ‘Kintsugi’ is the band’s latest EP, a collection of five tracks that represent the broad range of alternative rock.

As you listen, you can’t help but become a fan of their fluid, effortless stylistic fusions and progressions. You’ll see punk, post punk, hard rock, soft rock, with nu metal rises and everything in between. Moments of contemplation and thoughtful depth matched with character and stylistic peaks. 

The track, ‘Misery’ opens the collection. It immediately claims its mood with spooky chords and punk beats. There is a sense of urgency within the song but the emotional intensity is savored and built like a slow burn. You’ll see some softer neoclassical pauses, before the unstoppable rhythm drives you deeper into the alternative highway. You know those moments where you feel both freaky and wild but also deeply human for it. That’s the complexity that they explore to shape the theme of misery. 

The histrionics and the hyperbole in the style is not just limited to this track. The band uses a lot of theatrics and sudden raises to evoke reactions in the listener. To keep them feeling alive and engaged in their world. It’s incredible how they loop action and powerful trajectories into all the style ranges. In ‘Fear of Heights’, it is melodic hard rock that builds with power and emotion. The beats, riffs, and basslines keep lifting to the top like a skyscraper. Vocals are both evocative and spread the energy around, dispersing the emotion of the song before the build begins again. 

Every theme is explored immersively. ‘Becoming This’ is a dynamic, driving and powerful nu metal track. It thunders with its depth. You cannot escape it and you get into that drama. The vocals roar into the abyss that is made with the instrumentals and the bassline. ‘The Angel Number’ carries on with a similar intensity, but it is a hard rock lift. Luminous and bright melodies take on a deeper and darker emotion, exploring it in its own language. It’s intense, passionate and full of irrepressible hope. 

The EP is concluded with ‘Look Down’. A track that starts off at an intimate space. Solitude in a song. The vocals are softly emo as they pass on by over the acoustic guitar lines. It has a gloomy atmosphere like a rainy day in a room. It's quiet, except for the thoughts and emotion in the song. And it floats about, without disturbing the stillness in the room, the silence or the melancholy. Listen Now!

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The EP is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music! 

You can listen to ‘Kintsugi’ by FiveSidedDice here -