As previously stated, there is something of a rap metal renaissance occurring this year. In the UK we have Armageddon Stereo and Hacktivist, in the US several bands have taken on the genre as their own, while France is injecting some nerdcore into the equation through Smash Hit Combo. One place you wouldn’t expect rap metal to emerge, though, is Germany of all places. Nonetheless, We Like Cake have taken it upon themselves to bring rap metal to the land best known for its Teutonic Thrash and industrial madness. Coming in at only 3 tracks, Spiel des Lebens (translation: Game of Life) offers but a small slice of what We Like Cake are offering.
Overall it has to be said that We Like Cake have a decent grasp of what they’re doing and where they see their sound going in future. They have strong songwriting chops and with a bit of work on their weaker points they could become a very good band in future.
With crisp production and various instruments/effects laced within the music, We Like Cake offer a bombastic fusion of metalcore, nu metal and rapcore to their already rather polished sound. Opener “Vorhang auf” (“Curtain On”), after a short piano intro, bursts into life with catchy hooks and a huge chorus and tight grooves, while “Anymore” follows the same sort of pattern. Despite the similar pattern, however, the overall tempo and atmosphere are changed enough to keep things interesting, bringing harsh vocals and pianos further to the fore. The Bavarians have a decent grasp of the English language in this track too, with enough fluency and convincing enough pronunciation to believe that the group were native English speakers.
It must be said, though, that harsh vocals are not currently We Like Cake’s strong point. The screams feel somewhat forced and lacking depth, and this takes away from the energy of the tracks where harsh vocals take a central role in the music, such as with the English language track “Anymore”, which is dragged down by its grating vocal performance. Where it is used sparingly, such as in “Vorhang auf”, the group are capable of creating some major hooks and arena ready songs. It’s something they should definitely consider further down the line when creating a more full bodied release.
Oddly enough, though, the screams are used in such a way on closer “Fäden” (“Threads”) that they actually work. The group stick to the basics here and go for a more straightforward metalcore sound here, and it works. If taken as an entire body of work, Spiel des Lebens shows We Like Cake gradually transitioning from a rap metal opener to a metalcore finale, with a gradual increase in energy throughout.
Overall it has to be said that We Like Cake have a decent grasp of what they’re doing and where they see their sound going in future. They have strong songwriting chops and with a bit of work on their weaker points they could become a very good band in future.
Listen to Spiel des Lebens below, and download for free (or name-your-price).