Album Review: Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall - We Are The Night

I've talked quite a bit about Magnus Karlsson on this site. He is a very good writing of melodic metal who hands out his songs to myriad singers, which is an interesting bit of psychology as far as the human voice is concerned. From his work, I can easily see the impact that a singer has on getting a song across to an audience. At least for me, the voice is as important as the song, and even great songs that come from voice I don't really care for are going to struggle to have the same impact as good songs from great voices. Why do I say this?

Magnus' latest solo album features not just himself, but a host of other singers, and the nature of these sorts of albums make for a tough listen for me. As each singer gives way to the next, I can't help but wish for more from my favorites, and less from those I don't like as much. Just by the conceit, Magnus makes it difficult for me to love this album as much as the Allen/Olzon record from earlier in the year, even if the songwriting is on par.

Among these singers, the standout is without a doubt Noora Louhimo from Battle Beast. She sings "Queen Of Fire", and it's one of the best metal songs of the year, in large part because of her performance. Her voice has exceptional tone, and has the perfect balance between clear beauty and gritty power. She has always been great, but this song is my favorite vehicle for her yet. It's the standout, by far.

Magnus himself sings three of the songs, and could easily handle the record on his own. He actually has a voice better suited for his own music than many of the 'names' he brings in. Some of them, Ronnie Romero in particular, sing too hard and throw in too much aggression for the melodic music. Magnus' voice doesn't have those qualities, so he's better suited to handle these songs. That's always been my explanation for why I haven't wanted to revisit their The Ferrymen project.

The other voice of note is Tony Martin, the forgotten man in Black Sabbath's history. His last appearance on one of Magnus' records was a glorious slice of 80s Black Sabbath, but this time out Magnus gets a split decision. Martin gets one glorious metal ballad to close out the record with a dramatic swell the other singers couldn't match, but he also gets the single least melodic song on the entire record. Martin still sounds good, so it's a shame he hasn't had an album of what I consider strong material.... maybe ever, other than "The Headless Cross".

The other thing about this record is that while it's good, as all Magnus' albums are, it's not as good as Allen/Olzon's. That was Magnus' best work in years, and this is a return to the norm. That's still quality stuff, but if I'm being honest, you should go listen to that record before this one. It's tough to get excited about this record when Magnus himself just gave us one that's even better. The comparison is inevitable, and doesn't work in the favor of this album.

But don't let that stop you from giving some of these songs a listen. Magnus Karlsson is a great songwriter, and there are some gems here. "We Are The Night" is a fine album if you want to hear some melodic metal.