MAGNUS KARLSSON’S FREE FALL – We Are The Night [Japan Edition +1] (2020)

MAGNUS KARLSSON’S FREE FALL will release a new album, “We Are The Night“, next week via Frontiers Music, and tomorrow in Japan with a bonus track.
There’s a stellar cast of vocalist for this new effort, namely Dino Jelusick (Animal Drive), Ronnie Romero of Rainbow, Frontiers’ newest vocal sensation Renan Zonta of Electric Mob, Noora Louhimo of Battle Beast, Mike Andersson of Cloudscape, and former Black Sabbath great singer Tony Martin.

Karlsson is well known as the mastermind behind several Frontiers productions, including the successful initial ALLEN/LANDE trilogy and the recent spin-off album, ALLEN/OLZON, as well as releases by STARBREAKER (with Tony Harnell), Bob Catley, and KISKE/SOMERVILLE.
In 2008, he joined German metal icons PRIMAL FEAR and with them has toured the world and recorded several successful albums which charted in multiple countries around the globe.

In 2013, he launched this solo project FREE FALL, which was warmly received by the numerous fans of the Swedish mastermind and showcased Magnus’s songwriting and production skills with lead vocals provided by a varied cast of some the finest singers of the genre.
For this new album, “We Are The Night”, Magnus again enlisted a dream team featuring some of the strongest melodic singers in metal and hard rock. Rounding out the lineup on the album is Anders Kollerfors on drums, with mixing by Jacob Hansen (Pretty Maids).

Ranging between full-on hard rock (with some heavy AOR touches as well) tracks full of melodic riffs and keyboard layers, to more prominent, heavier displays of musicality, the album follows more or less the same path from beginning to end.
The vocal choices made by Karlsson help to form a homogeneous nature and bringing a sense of continuity to the record, rather than just being a compilation of songs with guest vocals.

It’s remarkable to see powerhouses like Ronnie Romero showcasing all his vocal range in “One by One”, and Tony Martin doing a show of his own in the good “Temples and Towers” and “Far From Over”, as well as to see a nice change in the female participation on the effort, this time around by Noora Louhimo; her harsh and angry vocal tone differs from what Karlsson is used to when writing slower songs, and “Queen of Fire” is definitely a success story.

As the exceptional songwriter he is, Karlsson surgically wrote each song to match each vocalist, catering to their strong points and providing space for them to be the center of attention when needed. This paves the way for different, dynamic shredding and singular melodic riffing.
However, the guitar-keyboard duo is where this truly shines. Even the instrumental “On My Way Back To Earth” has plenty of catchy moments that will stay in your head for a while, and the crystal clear mixing done by Hansen leverages this instrumental part to another level.

‘We Are The Night’ is a highly enjoyable album, especially if you’re a fan of the whole melodic heavy hard rock stuff Karlsson and these stupendous vocalists have been done over the years.
It could serve either as background music if you’re doing something else or as a record to lie down and listen to by paying full attention; it’s because of this “accessible” character that the album is a winner and a good entryway to Karlsson’s discography.
Highly Recommended

01. Hold Your Fire (Dino Jelusick)
02. Kingdom Falls (Renan Zonta)
03. We Are The Night (Magnus Karlsson)
04. Queen Of Fire (Noora Louhimo)
05. Dreams And Scars (Renan Zonta)
06. All The Way To The Stars (Mike Andersson)
07. One By One (Ronnie Romero)
08. Under The Black Star (Dino Jelusick)
09. Temples And Towers (Tony Martin)
10. Don’t Walk Away (Magnus Karlsson)
11. On My Way Back To Earth (Instrumental)
12. Far From Over (Tony Martin)
JAPAN BONUS TRACK:
13. All The Way To The Stars (Acoustic)

Magnus Karlsson – guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals
Anders Kollerfors – drums
Guest Vocalists:
Dino Jelusick
Renan Zonta
Noora Louhimo
Mike Andersson
Ronnie Romero
Tony Martin

PRE ORDER:
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/MICP-11555