From Sweden, the land where Vikings reign, comes one of the best albums of 2020. Magnus Karlsson’s Freefall, We Are the Night is set to hit the streets on June 12, 2020. Magnus has a storied career as an amazing guitar player being part of Primal Fear and The Ferrymen just to name a couple. As amazing as his guitar skills are, his writing talent as well as his expertise behind the mixing board are even more remarkable. Magnus is the mastermind behind Allen/Lande Allen/Olzon, The Ferrymen, Kiske/Somerville, and of course Freefall. We Are The Night showcases his skills both behind and in front of the mixing board.
The album showcases some of rock and metal’s premier voices from some of his own projects as well as artists from some of metal’s most successful bands.
The opening track “Hold Your Fire” features Dino Jelusick (Animal Drive and Dirty Shirley). “Hold Your Fire” starts with orchestration that can best be described as classical and cinematic. As the track continues, the song becomes more and more epic. Dino introduces himself with screams that pair with Magnus’s guitar riffs, sounding as if the cavalry is charging forward to battle. “Kingdom Falls” follows with Brazilian powerhouse Renan Zonta (Electric Mob) taking over vocal duties. Magnus proves his skills are not only on the guitar as he sings on “We Are the Night.” The song itself and his voice remind me of John Wetton of Asia.
The track “Queen of Fire” is one of my favorites on the album. Magnus recruited the “Queen of Fire” herself, Noora Louhimo (Battle Beast), for vocals. The song has a power ballade sound to it. The lyrics of the song are some of my favorite and speak to the dark nature of the song:
“You can Run Away
And You Can Try To Hide
Or Escape In Your Dreams
I Will Hunt You Down
I Will Be Your Pain
I Am The Queen Of Revenge
I Am The Queen Of Fire”
As We Are the Night continues, the vocals continue to amaze the auditory senses. Another vocal rocket ride comes via another of Magnus’s projects, The Ferrymen. Ronnie Romero sings “One by One” and his vocals are like acoustic gold.
Tony Martin of Black Sabbath fame sing brilliantly on two of tracks, “Temples and Towers” and “Far From Over.” Both songs provide melodic treasures in front of Magnus’s vivid guitar.
Not to be outdone, Mike Andersson (Cloudscape and Tungsten) delivers his vocal talents to “All the Way to the Stars.”
We Are the Night by Magnus Karlsson’s Freefall is a masterpiece that sheds light on the influence that classical music played in the evolution of Heavy Metal. Magnus’s use of orchestration mixed with his guitar playing delivers the roadmap to an album that will surely make it to my top ten of 2020. The vocal brilliance delivered on the album moves We Are the Night to contention for the top slot of 2020. We Are the Night by Magnus Karlsson’s Freefall will be available on Frontiers Music on June 12, 2020.
In addition you can hear the interview Brutal Planet Magazine did with Magnus about Freefall here:
