FOOL’S GAME – Reality Divine

The Fool’s Game project is yet another outstanding landmark of a joint force of Euro/American musicianship. The new venture, which is the baby of Matt Crooks (the guitarist of the Division band) demonstrates the art of modern sounding Power Metal combined with the old school habits of Heavy Metal with tiny dips of Progressive approaches. Fool’s Game, as a newfound feature, proved that there is an existing close relationship between American and European Metal… its fruits only created wonders for Melodic Metal.

Aboard this joint force came a variety of skilled members of the Metal world – Lars Larsen (Vocals) the experienced Danish vocalist of Manticora, Matt Johnsen (Guitars) from the band Pharaoh, John Macaluso (Drums) the veteran player who once played for Malmsteen, Ark and TNT. Finally, Fool’s Game wrapped it up with the keyboard player from the Redemption (Progressive Metal band), Nick Van Dyke.

The band’s debut album, Reality Divine, is when the figures of modernity and old school unite under Power/Heavy Metal while absorbing several progressive elements. This offering reveals a strain of nine tracks that each one of them, on its own, manifests true creativity with the ability to keep the flow of music steady and attractive. Beyond the fact that this album is heavy and beating, there are several amazing fillers. The music is filled with tons of harmonics, imaginative and intensified drumming, solo breaks of the keyboards that crossed the barrier further than just being plain aura stuff, yet, not too excessive.

In addition, there are melodic verses by each of the guitarists and well-written solos as fillings on this Metal cake. Above the mixed driven music there is the amazing vocal line of Larsen, a singer that is mostly remembered for his past and present works with Manticora. However, this project is a bit different from this singer’s band, nothing is interfering with him from being ultra-melodic while showing his passion for creating classics with a dreamy and depth of voice. On the course of the tracks, Crooks took the aid of the morbid screamer, Tim Aymar, which in the past served as the evil banshee on the Control Denied project of Chuck Schuldiner of Death, on the epic feature of “The Conqueror Worm”.

Within Reality Divine, Fool’s Game were able to turn the progressive elements into something more appealing for the one who wishes to have these constructive and inventive tracks as a simple listening to easily comprehend.

Overall, the material, away from some of it being straightforward, turned out to be running forward smoothly without too much hanging around, at least on most of the album. Not every song is a mega-bomber catchy machine, and it did not seem to be the intention of the band, yet, there are shards of attempts of trying to recreate the same melodic rhythms (mostly singing wise).
Reality Divine, as a mix of Heavy/Power Metal, is not just a plain album of that mixture, it has the motifs and elements that made it more interesting with its Progressive Metal touches. With all of those fundamentals, this album will take you further into the depths of imagination.

Highlights: “As She Moved Through The Fair” , “Mass Psychosis” , “The Conqueror Worm” , “Sowing Dead Seeds” , “As The Field Of Dreams Abandoned” , “The Wild Swans At Coole”.