The talented Chilean vocalist Ronnie Romero is certainly keeping busy lately, not only fronting his own band Lords of Black and serving as frontman for the newly resuscitated Rainbow, but also taking part in this intriguing project with guitarist Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear, Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall) and drummer Mike Terrana (Rage, Axel Rudi Pell, Artension) titled The Ferrymen. Their self-titled debut for Frontiers Records contains a dozen tracks of vintage sounding melodic metal, soaked in thunderous guitar riffs and allowing for plenty of space for Romero to soar to the heavens with his Ronnie James Dio inspired vocal attack.
Karlsson for his part wrote all the songs and handled the guitars, bass, and keyboards, and if you are familiar with his past work his stamp is all over this album in a big way. Sweeping melodies housed within massive, metallic arrangements are found at every corner, Karlsson's huge riffs, shredding solos, and screaming pinch harmonics abound on rippers like "Fool You All", "End of the Road", and "Ferryman", backed by the expert drums of Terrana with Romero putting on a vocal clinic above it all. A cool mix of power & progressive metal can be heard on the intricate symphonic number "Still Standing Up", while epic & majestic arrangements permeate heavy tracks such as "Cry Wolf", "How the Story Ends", and the pounding "Enter Your Dream". And, if you had any doubt of Karlsson's guitar hero status, check him out on the snarling "Welcome to My Show", an aggressive metal number packed to the gills with massive crunch-o-rama and shredding lead guitar work.
Overall, The Ferrymen deliver a wealth of classy melodic metal on this self-titled debut, and it's another case of an all-star project really working out well and delivering the goods. Recommended.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
01 - End Of The Road
02 - Ferryman
03 - Fool You All
04 - Still Standing Up
05 - Cry Wolf
06 - One Heart
07 - The Darkest Hour
08 - How The Story Ends
09 - Enter Your Dream
10 - Eyes On The Sky
11 - Eternal Night
12 - Welcome To My Show
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