Review Summary: That cake looks appetizing, and so is Other Slices.
As a followup to March’s The Man With No Face, Slice the Cake have certainly been hard at work this year. Not to mention it’s comprised of three members who all live in different countries. With Other Slices, the band takes a slightly more melodic approach, but it’s greatly executed and welcomed. The Man With No Face was a show of pure brutality so a first listen of this might throw some off kilter, but listen again and it’ll flow much more.
Other Slices starts off with an instrumental “Blow Up Voodoo Doll” that sets the mood for the first half of this pummeling album. Gareth Edwards has fine tuned his vocals to take on a Johnny Davy like growl as well as just the whole vibe of the album takes one similar to Ruination with more math metal elements. “False Illumination” takes on a mammoth technical metal sound with a brutal, relentless flow. Edwards implements some high screams, which aren’t necessarily bad, but he is very proficient on the lower end. “Nebulayer Cake” has an insanely catchy groove followed by the descent into madness. Other Slices keeps an engaging sound without being monotonous, and that’s the big difference between an exceptional and forgettable album.
The first single from the album “Siren’s Song” is a great symphonic math metal track with a great melodic ending, adding to an already impressive beginning of the album. Four minutes into the mesmerizing track, guitarist and clean vocalist Jonas Johansson comes in with an interlude before the ending kicks into gear with pianos, violins and the drummer to finish the slaughter. “Fractal Exam Sequence” shows an unexpected side with a duet of sorts that is a greatly crafted song. This song is a curveball amidst the deathcore vibe the album portrays, but it is a great "intermission" track. Following more brutality we’re met with “Genghis Tron, Come Home, We Miss You!” which is a stellar 5 minute instrumental. “Kow Otani’s Castle In The Sky” takes a good 3-4 minutes to gain it’s footing, but spends the last 3 minutes in pure confidence. It left desiring a lot, especially for a last song.
Other Slices is a strong album, and Slice the Cake no doubt know how to write catchy, brutal songs while also going outside the norm and experimenting. Most of the songs satisfy on their own, while a couple fall short of the quality we’ve come to expect from Slice the Cake. Nevertheless, Other Slices is a great continuation from The Man With No Face and makes me wonder what the next full length album will have in store.
4/5
