Review: Dicepeople – 'End Of Line'

DICEPEOPLE
'End Of Line'
SONIC SERENDIPITY RECORDS

Dicepeople are a group that are somewhat hard to define. As an audio visual collaboration their audio output inevitably is incomplete without it's visual accompaniment. But their third studio album 'End Of Line' doesn't feel incomplete in the least. In fact it is an incredibly deep and polished work that see the duo of Matt Brock and Rafael Filomeno incorporate classic electronica, idm, ebm, ambient, trip-hop and industrial elements to create a uniquely innovative album.

Darkly danceable and beard-scratchingly cerebral, 'End Of Line' blends club friendly rhythms with soundtrack quality electronics and throws in hypnotic female vocals to evoke the likes of Enigma, Art Of Noise, Can, Massive Attack and Depeche Mode. Songs such as 'Bruised', 'Dissolution', 'Hurt' and 'The end Of The Line' in particular really capture this blend of dark ambience and sublime dance potential. While the likes of 'The Doll House', 'Singularity' and 'Death Drone' really delve into more conceptual narratives within the music to draw the listener deeper.

'End Of Line' is a very well produced album that subtly builds layers and mixes elements down to emphasise the band's avant garde leanings, while simultaneously preserving that accessible dance friendly element to grab the casual listener. It has a crisp, clean modern sound that emphasises that this is an innovative and modern album.

This may only be the third studio length album from the duo, but it sounds like it could be their thirteenth with the amount of skill and craftsmanship that has gone into it. The album is confident and sure in it's mission. The only real downside is that at 39 minutes in total, it is over in the blink of an eye and doesn't seem like the band have had enough time to play their trump card. But with songs of this quality that is a small sticking point.  

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