Review by Xephyr for Ferrymen, The - One More River to Cross (2022)
Charon's Melody
On the surface, The Ferrymen's third album One More River To Cross isn't necessarily anything special. It's anthemic Power Metal tendencies have been done to death, but sometimes the formula simply works in a way that's so infectious that I can't help but keep going back to it. All-star Power Metal acts seem like a dime a dozen nowadays, since the more prolific musicians that have a knack for composing have a tendency to have a metric ton of offshoots from their original projects. This time, it's guitarist Magnus Karlsson of Allen Lande and Primal Fear hooking up with vocalist Ronnie Romero of Lords of Black and modern Rainbow and accomplished drummer Mike Terrana of Avalanch and Masterplan. After I realized the pedigree that this trio brought to the table, it's no wonder that I'm drawn to The Ferrymen in the way that I am, but they're one of the few supergroups that manage to bring better than average songwriting along with their stellar lineups.
The opener "One Word" tells you pretty much everything you need to about The Ferrymen, and you'll be getting some déjà vu if you've heard any other albums from Power Metal supergroups like Allen Lande. These groups mostly serve to highlight their vocalists, but don't cut any corners with adding orchestration, keyboards, or any other effects they can think of to fill out the mix. From the tension building piano and choir intro, to the dueling lead and chugging guitars, to the overblown but catchy chorus, the opener sets the perfect stage for the rest of the album. If you like what you hear with "One Word", congratulations, the rest of the album is waiting for you. If not, I've got some terrible news for you because The Ferrymen aren't exactly here to escort you to a greater plane of Power Metal existence. I really enjoy One More River To Cross' pacing as it keeps the middling tempos interesting and distinct from song to song, with "The Last Wave" being a bit more lackadaisical in its chorus but "City of Hate" bringing more energy to the table with its deeper chugging and slightly faster tempo. Overall, though, The Ferrymen have very little new tricks up their sleeve and it all comes down to how well this group of expert metal musicians can write some songs to stand out from the pack.
For me, The Ferrymen occupy this strange spot of a band doing exactly what a lot of other groups are doing, but performing it in a way that separates them from the pack. It helps that Ronnie Romero absolutely kills it in the vocal department, with chorus after chorus being performed in an extremely memorable and impressive way. The choruses "Shut It Out", "One More River to Cross" and "The Last Ship" have popped into my head much more than I'm willing to admit even after more than 2 years from this album's release, whereas with most other generic Power Metal albums I struggle to remember a single song or riff. The admittedly cheesy orchestration comes in full force on tracks like "One More River to Cross" and "The Other Side" and I don't mind it since Terrana's and Karlsson's performances compliment it better than your average Power Metal schlock, but it definitely feels like an afterthought in the end. As above average as the songwriting is in One More River to Cross, certain tracks like "Bringers of the Dark", "City of Hate", "The Passenger", and "The Other Side" fall by the wayside as tracks that have better counterparts within the same album. This is partially because The Ferrymen know what kind of band they want to be, but it's still a weight on the album experience that certain songs just feel like lesser versions of something that was already played. However, as an album experience from front to back, The Ferrymen do a fantastic job of structuring the tracks so that I'm engaged and not necessarily thinking about track quality halfway through. Despite the repetitiveness, every riff and chorus is interesting and memorable enough to keep me coming back for more.
Despite being another notch in the generic Power Metal supergroup totem pole, One More River to Cross has stood the test of time as an album that legitimately showcases the talents of exceptional Power Metal musicians. I'll be the first person to admit that it immediately falls victim to most of the Power Metal pitfalls of being bombastic just for the sake of it and not having enough variety or massive moments, but damn this album has some amazing choruses. It stumbles here and there along its lengthy track list and as much as I think "The Last Ship" should have been the final track instead of "The Passenger", it's one of the most successful Power Metal supergroup projects I've heard thus far.