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Genre: Power/Progressive Metal Release Date: 2009 Label: Cruz Del Sur Band Web Site: http://www.fools-game.com
Former member as well as one of the founders of Division, guitarist/vocalist Matt Crooks decided to leave that long-established band and pursue his own musical direction. In doing so, he started what is now known as Fool’s Game. In the process of starting Fool’s Game, he managed to surround himself with some really talented musicians, including guitarist Matt Johnson from Pharaoh, drummer John Macaluso from Starbreaker (as well as TNT, ARK, and Yngwie), keyboardist Nick van Dyk from Redemption, and last, but certainly not least, Lars F. Larson, the vocalist from Manticora. The result, after some two years of work is this album, Reality Divine. I'll cut to the chase right here. If you really like power/progressive metal, and especially if you are a fan of Manticora, then you might as well just stop reading this and go get this album and listen to it yourself. At that point, I might as well be preaching to the choir here. This album is that good. Case in point; at this past year's (2009) ProgPower USA festival (ProgPower USA X), the vendors sold out of this album in a matter of hours (thank the Good Lord above that I managed to snag a copy – gotta love those VIP privileges and early entry!). This is a very promising start to what is already proven to be an extremely talented band.
This album consists of nine tracks, totaling just short of 47 minutes of music for your listening enjoyment. In addition, the album also features some very nice looking cover art and a complete booklet, containing lyrics, pictures of the band members and so forth. Overall a very nice, well-done package. In addition, the production quality of this album is superb (again, as heard on my nice, high-end Klipsch/B&K sound system). Every instrument can be heard clearly and easily picked out. Also, Lars’ vocals are easily heard plus the lyrics can easily be distinguished and followed. It is also nice to have the lyric sheet in the booklet to easily follow along if you are so inclined – this is something that all bands should have in all their albums, but I can see how production costs could be saved if this was skipped and perhaps publish the lyrics on a website instead.
The album starts off with the track “Mass Psychosis.” This seems to be a track about how people seem to blindly follow whatever religious/cult, especially to dangerous ends, and don't bother to seek the truth for themselves. This is a really good number to help set up the album. There is a pretty cool bass track underlying the song near the beginning. In additional, although I am not a big fan of “growly” vocals, they are used here in the chorus with very nice effect. Speaking of the “growly” vocals, nearly every track uses these vocals. Thankfully, they are not overdone and actually add some nice texture to the tracks. Of course, there is a guitar solo in the track near the end.
Next up is “When the Beginning Meets the End.” This is a track about somebody that is stuck in the rut, despite how bad that “rut” may be and will not wander out and try new things to better themselves (at least that is how I interpret it). Like the previous track, also very nicely and not overdone “growly” vocals are used with the chorus. And as is typical, there is also a guitar solo featured in this track.
The third track, “Sowing Dead Seeds,” starts out with a pretty heavy guitar-heavy intro, and slows down into slower ballad-type vocals. Once the chorus kicks in, this track gets hard and heavy again. It is actually really cool how they do that and really helps keep the track interesting to listen to.
Than comes track number four, “As the Fields of Dreams Was Abandoned.” This is one awesome track that I can somewhat relate with myself. Have some awesome dream or idea, only to have it shattered, either due to pure ignorance or greed, i.e. “they killed my dreams forever.” Yet, there seems to be some hope in that perseverance, despite all the negativity, one can still succeed. Overall, I just love how this whole track flows together, with Lars opening up into the vocals right off the start, over a techno-sounding synth track playing behind him. It is not long for the guitars and drums to really kick it in the ass and get it really going.
Next is “The Conqueror Worm.” This is actually set to an Edgar Allen Poe poem. Pretty cool to see the lyrics credited to Edgar Allen Poe in a metal song! This is one proof that this music is actually some pretty sophisticated stuff. The track itself is another very well-written piece from a musical point of view. Plenty of instrumental interludes, including a keyboard solo, not to mention that it all just comes together so well as a complete package. Being an engineer and not even close to being a literature scholar, I'll leave the interpretations up to the individual listener.
Track number six, “Prelude to the Fair,” is a short, very nice piano interlude that leads directly into track number seven, “She Moved Through the Fair,” which starts heavy, but slow, then really starts to pick up. In addition, the lyrics are taken from some old Irish traditional song/poem of unknown origin (as indicated in the lyric book).
Track number eight, “The Wild Swans at Coole,” is another song where lyrics are taken directly from poetry, this time William Butler Yeats. Also, another very heavy number with some serious driving guitar work. In addition, nice to hear the keyboards show some presence here as well. Again, another well-composed track that flows really well and is just a joy to listen to.
The album than closes with the ninth and final track, “On Endless Planes of Ignorance.” This appears to be a track about how people tend to hide behind religion and refuse to face reality, i.e, “reality divine.” Again, another appropriately heavy track to really finish this album off.
Overall, this is really an outstanding piece of work here. Lars’ vocals are just so awesome with his trademark sound (hard to describe, but if you listened to Manticora, you'll know what I mean). I am a huge fan of Manticora, so it was very easy for me to really get into this album as well. If there is anything to nit-pick about on here, one, the keyboards do kind of get buried in the rest of the music. There are some bits you hear that really add to the sound. I personally would love to hear a bit more of the keyboards myself, but they are used to good effect here without being “overdone.” Also, as excellent as this album is, it is not anything truly earth-shattering either. This could've easily been another Manticora album and the average Joe would probably be none the wiser. Thus, if you are a fan of Manticora, and Lars, this album is a must. Still, the songwriting and musicianship is just incredible on this album and is worth every minute of listening. Every track stands out on its own (with the exception of that one short piece “Prelude to the Fair,” which, for all intents and purposes, is just an extended intro to the track “She Moved Through the Fair”). This album is indeed all killer and no filler.
Fortunately, the future of Fool’s Game seems to be bright as well. Seems Matt Crooks has already written four tracks for the next album. He also indicated he really wants to keep the current lineup, but include a dedicated bassist. The bass duties on Reality Divine were handled between the two Matts (Crooks and Johnson). He would like to eventually take the band to the stage and would need a dedicated bassist to do so as well. I will be looking forward to what he/they come up with next. In addition, I would love to see these guys play in a live setting as well.
I give this album a good 4½ devil horns. (m/m/m/m/ ). Go get it – you will not be disappointed. |
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Fool’s Game – Reality Divine
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