In case you haven’t heard the good news, Milwaukee has its very own Dungeons & Dragons-inspired music collective featuring past and current members of legendary Midwest emo and indie rock outfits. Yes, it’s true! Since forming after longtime friends and veteran musicians bonded while playing D&D together during the pandemic, Fight Dice—a rock band with has direct ties to The Promise Ring, Braid, Hey Mercedes, Maritime, and Tigernite, among other projects—has played a handful of live outings and recorded a batch of decidedly heavy RPG-themed songs.
On September 20, Fight Dice will release its debut full-length, entitled Total Party Kill, on Forge Again Records, then follow the album up with its festival debut at Bay View Bash the next day and a belated record release show at X-Ray Arcade on October 25. Today, the unconventional-yet-awesome band with a super specific focus chased its recent lead single “Magic Pact” with a music video for another track from the forthcoming album.
True to the project’s concept, “Attack The Drider” leans hard into the D&D aspects with lyrical references to a dungeon master, a fallen queen, and the man/spider hybrid for which the song is named. The accompanying video only hammers it home even more. Directed by Kyle Arpke of Silver City Video (and Milwaukee Record birding article fame!), Fight Dice literally puts the “roll” into rock and roll, as a group of kids gather in a suburban basement for a spirited game of D&D. Adding to the gaming visuals is live footage of the band performing the pummeling song in its Walker’s Point rehearsal space.
Before you pre-order Total Party Kill in digital or vinyl formats and catch the band live in the coming months, take a fantastical 150-second journey with Fight Dice and watch the “Attack The Drider” music video now.