Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Ferrymen, The
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2017
Duration: 52:46
Rating: 4/5
Frontiers Records sent an interesting commission to the Swedish workaholic and musical wizard Magnus Karlsson, a producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He was to write the music for an album he’d make together with singer Ronnie Romero and drummer Mike Trerrano.
You could call it a super melodic hard rock/heavy metal trio. Mind you, Mike Terrana surely flinched now and then at the word trio, when memories of his days with Germany’s Rage came flooding back. The moody drummer didn’t exactly part on friendly terms with Smolski and Wagner. Magnus Karlsson is incredible. A professional legionnaire, a »jack of all trades«. The guy has written no end of albums for all sorts of artists and turned up on a heap of studio records. Mike Terrana is considered one of the most notorious drummers in the heavy metal universe, and to this day he’s racked up an immodest haul of over 100 albums with different acts. Ronnie Romero is the least known name of the three. The man who sings in Lords of Black recently widened his name and reputation as the vocalist of the resurrected Rainbow, led by one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in the history of rock’n’roll, Richie Blackmore. Blackmore knew exactly why he picked Ronnie for his crew. The guy is simply an outstanding singer.
However I look at it, »The Ferrymen« is a Magnus Karlsson album from head to toe. This time he had completely free rein, knowing he had two musicians alongside him who can sing and drum their way through absolutely anything. So he really gave it his all in the composing and arranging. That’s why »The Ferrymen«, roughly speaking, is a kind of cross-section of his creative career. In different songs you can hear different arranging levers that Magnus has already used more than successfully on his past work. Whether a particular song, guitar phrase or harmony pulls toward his solo output, toward the stuff that defines the Allen/Lande duo, or Starbreaker, or the solo albums by Magnum singer Bob Catley. On the other hand, the album doesn’t hide its metal-soaked side. The riffs often tug toward modern-day Primal Fear. The similarities aren’t hard to pick out, since Karlsson also co-wrote the songs on the last few records by the German power metallers from Eslingen. When he wants to, the man plays with hellish fury and speed. He’s unbelievably precise and has total control over the instrument. He knows what that hellish picking over riffs is all about, and during his Primal Fear days he also learned to turn the pick sideways while playing riffs and solos, coaxing out that trademark »squealing« tone that’s all over the place when Naumann and Beyrodt play guitars.
But luckily »The Ferrymen« is a different story. Musically it happily veers away from all these comparisons and goes its own way. Alongside Karlsson’s signature arranging (I mean the riffs and soloing here, inherited of course from the classic Scandinavian school of neoclassicism), there are the typical synths, or keyboards, which we can link to modern melodic (hard) rock albums of the last fifteen to twenty years. Terrana on one side and Romero on the other are the important pointers on the scale, adding that special musical sparkle and spice that give this album its note of distinctiveness, of difference. That’s the note we could call the note of allure. The album has incredible musicality, while contrasting sharply with Mike Terrana’s cannon-like, noisy performance, which isn’t as wild as in his Rage days, but comes with an implant of excellent »groove«. »The Ferrymen« is an ultra-stuffed melodic hard rock album that rides the edge of heavy metal »vampirizing« the whole way through. The set of eleven songs is a nicely varied dose of appealing musical character that’s well known to us, yet at the same time thrilling and magnetic, because it carries that pinch of difference that will grab everyone who appreciates Magnus Karlsson’s work in melodic hard rock and also keeps a close eye on what Primal Fear have been up to for the last ten years. Romero is outstanding on vocals. His timbre has a velvety throatiness, and he builds up a high dose of authoritative explosiveness. In every register. Of course, that’s the Ronnie James Dio school. A superb performance.
In short. This isn’t an album of musical revolution, but it’s way more than just a damn good melodic hard rock album, with insanely wound-up and noisy guitar voltage that shamelessly flirts with elements of heavy metal. At the same time it’s ultra-melodic, catchy, and just different enough. Exactly what the trio actually set out to achieve with it.
The Ferrymen – Eyes on the Sky (official video):
Line-up
Ronnie Romero – vocals
Magnus Karlsson – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
Mike Terrana – drums
Production
Magnus Karlsson
Track list
1. End Of The Roa
2. Ferryman
3. Fool You All
4. Still Standing Up
5. Cry Wolf
6. One Heart
7. Darkest Hour
8. How The Story Ends
9. Enter Your Dream
10. Eyes On The Sky
11. Eternal Night
12. Welcome To My Show
