THE FERRYMEN – Iron Will (2025) *HQ*
THE FERRYMEN, the highly powerful trio formed by masterful Swedish guitarist / songwriter / producer Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear, Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall), awesome vocalist Ronnie Romero (Lords of Black, Sunstorm, Rainbow), and thunderous drummer Mike Terrana (Rage, Axel Rudi Pell, etc.), have become an established name amongst European melodic metal fans after their first three successful albums – fans should now prepare themselves for album number four titled “Iron Will“.
”Iron Will” is certainly a huge shot of adrenaline for all lovers of classic melodic heavy metal and hard rock. Musically, you can expect as usual a very heavy, melodic sound that fuses the songwriting and epic structures of the great Karlsson who is known for his work with Allen / Lande, Primal Fear, etc, with the huge, powerful vocal approach of Romero, and the driving, explosive drumming of Terrana.
From the high emotional opening track “Choke Hold”, through songs like “Mother Unholy“, “Adrenaline” and until the latest track “You’re The Joker” the album showcases the amazing talent of these 3 top musicians.
The album starts with ‘Choke Hold’, a soft and airy intro crescendo into a powerful and melodic track, full of four by four guitar chugga-chugga and powerful drum fills. Not to forget the expressive and extensive guitar solo. Hundred percent what you expect from this line up and the opening track for any Karlsson album.
‘Mother Unholy’, starts full of epic choirs leading to an airy and more toned down, midtempo, epic song. Ronnie Romero is sitting comfortably in this register and can release all of his tricks to an amazing performance.
‘Iron Will’, third cut and title track mix atmospheres with a powerful delivery: melodic guitar lines, airy quiet parts, pushing forward drums and choirs in the background. Magnus has perfected this formula throughout the years and this is a perfect example as in ‘Above it All’, the fourth track, even though I would say this one has a bit of 80s Hard Rock on it.
Fifth track kicks off with more energy. ‘Adrenaline’ kick ass and what you would expect from the title: the double kick of the drums, the fast guitar riff but still the catchy melodic chorus is there to sing along only to slow down again with the next track, ‘Darkest Storm’, which is melodic, expressive and with a bit more presence from the synthesizers.
Next, the intriguing ballad ‘Dreams And Destiny’ is very different from what The Ferrymen have written so far. It sounds subtle, inventive, emotional and it has also a bit of power but not to the extent that is typical for The Ferrymen and for most of the songs on this album. Romero’s singing is spot on and it seems that the vocalist just thrives on compositions written by Karlsson. The Swedish mastermind knows exactly what he needs to provide to bring out all the qualities and different ranges in Romero’s vocal pipes.
‘Dust to Dust’ and ‘The Darkness that Divides’ are the trademark of The Ferrymen, melodic, powerful and epic, then ‘Mind Games’ is even more epic with big choruses and more strings while the synths gives it a bit more of a classic power metal taste and the long and full of melodic motifs guitar solo leads to which is my favourite chorus of the album: it’s huge.
Last track, ‘You’re The Joker’ is faster and heavier, with the drums and bass kicking hard on your lower parts and a guitar riff played in octaves following Ronnie’s vocal line. With more rhythmic changes and more differentiated parts throughout the song, this is the most complex track of the album, far from being Progressive Metal complex because that’s not what The Ferrymen is about, but it is interesting and makes us wish more in this vein in the future.
In the end, the new album is exactly what you would expect from The Ferrymen: power, epic and melodic metal with top notch production quality and a great musical taste for the little and not so little details. Everything sits in its place and it is comforting to listen to an album beginning to end without anything sounding off or pushing you out of the mood.
A perfect way to start 2025. Highly Recommended.
01 – Chokehold
02 – Mother Unholy
03 – Iron Will
04 – Above It All
05 – Adrenaline
06 – Darkest Storm
07 – Dreams And Destiny
08 – Dust To Dust
09 – The Darkness That Divides
10 – Mind Games
11 – You’re The Joker
Ronnie Romero – lead and backing vocals
Magnus Karlsson – guitars, bass, keyboards
Mike Terrana – drums, percussion
BUY
www.amazon.co.uk/IRON-WILL-FERRYMEN/dp/B0DNMWHJ3N
