Album Review: The Ferrymen - One More River To Cross

I'll start my commentary by saying this; I didn't think there would ever be a third album from The Ferrymen. Between the number of other projects these three are involved in, and the transient nature of these put together 'bands', I figured one or two albums would be enough (without some miraculous crossover appeal) for things to get packed up while everyone searched for a more lucrative vehicle. I was wrong on that front, and album number three comes at a time when much needs to be proven. Magnus Karlsson had an off year in 2021, releasing a metal opera and an album with Anette Olzon, both of which were disappointments compared to what I expect from him. Pairing back up with a singer I'm not fond of, I was afraid of the longest slump in his career.

The first couple of tracks, the singles "One Word" and "The Last Wave", didn't do much to dispel that notion. They hit the usual melodic metal notes, but without much spark or hook to them. Ronnie's voice still has an uncomfortable amount of rasp, which sounds odd singing these sorts of long, drawn-out phrases. It all feels too soft to really grab us the way Magnus' best songs do. The production isn't helping, where in the interest of sounding 'heavy', the guitars are loaded with so much gain they turn into a mush of on-key noise. When Magnus tries to dig into a riff, rather than hearing the percussive force of his playing, it's a fuzzy blanket thrown atop the notes.

The worst moment, though, is in the chorus to "Shut It Out", where the key note to the melody is in the absolute worst place for Ronnie. His voice sounds so shrill and unpleasant it almost doesn't matter what else comes after. That one note says it all; neither Magnus or Ronnie are tailoring these songs to fit what is needed. These songs could just as easily have been for one of Magnus' other projects, and it sounds to me like he didn't bother to see which ones fit Ronnie's voice before allotting them to each album.

That's the bad news. The good news is that like almost all Magnus Karlsson projects, there is still plenty of really good melodic metal to be found here. Songs like "Hunt Me To The End Of The World" build to strong hooks, and Ronnie can deliver them well when they fit his range. Personally, last year's Sunstorm album proved to me he's better suited as a rock singer than a metal one, and the best songs on this record feature him not pushing his voice so hard. When the focus is on melodic, and not metal, The Ferrymen are still good at what they do.

If I'm being honest, though, I have to say this still falls well short of the best Magnus Karlsson albums. This is no Allen/Lande, Allen/Olzon, or Bob Catley record. Those defined this sound for me, and this record is tracing the outline with a pen running low on ink. We get the idea, and it's still worthwhile, but we've heard the same thing done better before.

So I would say The Ferrymen have delivered a fine album to help get the year rolling, but it's not one destined to be remembered come the end.