Fool the Masses - It’s All Lost

Angry Metal Guy 50

So, Germany’s Fool the Masses emailed the site in hopes that we would review their second full-length record, It’s All Lost. Not only that, but they directed the email to me—as if I’m the metalcore expert at AMG Headquarters. I was born well before that abomination of a genre first reared its ugly head and I’ve had to suffer through the Unearth’s and Trivium’s ever since. But Fool the Masses is unique because it has no drummer and employs a DJ to program the drums and add electronic flavorings to the mix. Yeah, I know, I’ve already lost 85% of you by this point. But, the email was kind. So, without any knowledge of the band, I dove in headfirst to their new record. But, what will this do to Grier and his stellar reputation?¹

Fool the Masses is quite new to the scene but have already been hammering out releases in a timely fashion. First came their 2021 EP, Supervision, followed by 2022’s full-length record, Welcome to the Big 7.² The EP was fairly decent for the style, incorporating those electro elements into clean-vocal choruses and classic, old-school metalcore riffage. With Welcome to the Big 7, they picked up more harsh vocals and almost tripled the runtime by stuffing it with thirteen tracks—which is part of the problem. In a short spurt, I enjoy their music enough to get through it. But Welcome to the Big 7 drags a lot, making it difficult to complete without skipping some tracks. But, being the ever-positive person I am, I walked into It’s All Lost with hopes of improvement. Believe it or not, I was pleasantly surprised with the diverse vocal performance, riffage, production, and overall album flow. I mean, it’s still metalcore, so if you’re hoping that Fool the Masses is about to reinvent the genre, they aren’t. So, feel free to go read a different Grier review.

Though the album opens the useless one-and-a-half-minute “It’s All Lost,” it does display an angrier side to the vocals than on previous releases. When “Into the Void” kicks in, we get hammered with heavy guitars and faux drums that give off some Fear Factory vibes. “Just a Silhouette” is another with some Fear Factory characteristics, specifically when the vocals go clean in the chorus. But both suffer (much like the rest of the album) from the predictable introduction-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-maybe something else-chorus-end songwriting style. The only track on the album’s front half with any standing power is “Dream Talker.” Though, you have to put up with the alternating clean and harsh vocal patterns reminiscent of Slipknot. That said, it has a decent groove and hooking chorus.

When you get to the album’s back half, three songs stand out above the others. The first, and probably the best on the record, has no right to be as good as it is. “Black Soul” has a gorgeous display of clean guitars and vocals that are legitimately fantastic. The song’s pace and mood also make it the black sheep of the album, almost venturing into The Ocean territories when it hits the powerful chorus. The follow-up track, “God Has Left Us,” returns us to the metalcore groove, but it stands out for its nifty, mid-paced chorus with vocals that intermingle nicely with the guitar leads and drum work. Like the previous track, “Seven” has some head-bobbing groove and metalcore heft with overlapping clean and harsh vocals arriving in the memorable chorus. Though it’s not as strong as the two previous tracks, it works better than most others on the disc.

While It’s All Lost isn’t really my jam, I’ll give it props for being a step up in quality compared to Welcome to the Big 7. The back-to-back “Black Soul” and “God Has Left Us” are far more memorable than anything from the band’s previous album. While most songs are hit or miss, “Confessions” and “W.S.T.N.O.F.” are borderline dreadful. While the orchestral elements of “Confessions” are a nice touch, the lyrics, and suicidal, gunshot sound clips completely kill the song³. The latter song is a massive metalcore guitar and drum assault with perhaps the most vicious vocals on the record. Unfortunately, it’s also an electro-orgy that goes too far and takes the edge away. I’m not sure where this band will go from here, but there’s improvement in the songwriting and performances compared to previous releases. So, I can’t be upset about them reaching out and asking me to review their record. Ignoring the lack of trve drums, if you’re one of the metalcore elite, It’s All Lost might be for you.



Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Dr. Music Records
Websites: foolthemasses.com | facebook.com/foolthemasses
Releases Worldwide: June 7th, 2024

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