The Ferrymen: A New Evil (Frontiers, 2019)

2019 brings us a new album from The Ferrymen, a metal project from the Frontiers label that brings together guitarist/songwriter/producer Magnus Karlsson (Allen-Lande, Starbreaker, Last Tribe), vocalist Ronnie Romero (CoreLeoni, Rainbow) and drummer Mike Terrana (Vision Divine, ex-every other band). The new album is titled A New Evil, and this time around Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Pretty Maids, Pyramaze) was brought in to mix and master it.

Like the band’s 2017 debut, A New Evil is very much in the Magnus Karlsson style. It’s heavy, melodic metal with one foot in hard rock territory and is defined by huge melodies and big dramatic vocal parts. That works out especially well when you have a vocalist as talented as Ronnie Romero. There aren’t many (any?) singers versatile enough to cover both Ronnie James Dio and Steve Lee, but Romero does both extremely well and he brings that range to this project.

I admit I struggled with The Ferrymen debut. I’m a huge fan of Magnus Karlsson’s many (many) projects, but I just couldn’t get into the songs. Fortunately that’s not a problem on A New Evil. These songs seem written with Romero’s unique strengths in mind, and the “Dio meets Axel Rudi Pell” vibe they have really comes through. “A New Evil,” “The Night People Arise” and “Heartbeat” are particular highlights, but this is a strong album start to finish.

I’m glad Karlsson, Romero and Terrana continued their partnership (and I’m glad Hansen is involved), because The Ferrymen definitely improved with this album. A New Evil is a worthy addition to Karlsson’s discography, and is just a really solid, really enjoyable melodic metal album overall. Fans of Karlsson’s other projects will get the most out of it, but anyone into Dio, Axel Rudi Pell, Lords Of Black, Pretty Maids, Jorn and Masterplan should give The Ferrymen a (second) chance.