I somehow have the ability to choose and receive albums that are sung by Ronnie Romero. A singer who became the frontman of RAINBOW through the LORDS OF BLACK rendition of “Lady Of The Lake”. I have seen the combination twice and I can confirm that he did a cracking job when they played live. And it didn’t matter which singer he had to emulate, he just did it as if it was nothing. He then went on to front MSG live as well as in the studio (“Universal”). But he also is on a whole lot of albums by different artists. I really liked what he did with VANDENBERG on their “2020” album. But he also fronts SUNSTORM, INTELLIGENT MUSIC PROJECT and as I have now discovered, THE FERRYMEN. He also has a few solo albums, of which the latest one (“Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters”) is the only interesting one. The “Raised on Radio” ones are filled with covers and are, quite frankly, rather boring.

What I am able to deduce from that is that when Ronnie Romero sings in a band where someone else has written the songs, he is quite good. He is a real singer, not a song writer. I therefore am quite happy to hear him sing with THE FERRYMEN, where Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR, MAGNUS KARLSSON’S FREE FALL) is the one pulling the strings. As this is released on Frontiers Music Srl there can be no doubt about the musical direction; Melodic Rock/Metal with keyboards. And that is where all three the instrumentalists do shine. Yes, drummer Mike Terrana shows us why he is considered as a very good hitter of pig skins and metal discs.

So, now about “Iron Will”, the fourth album of this international power trio. For more than 54 minutes these THE FERRYMEN how good they are musically. The songs all sound good too, but I still can’t seem to get overly excited or extremely happy with what I hear. It is good, but also so easily predictable. And that is what I was hoping it wouldn’t be, as I hadn’t heard anything of THE FERRYMEN before listening to “Iron Will”. But alas, that is exactly the case. For the real Melodic Rock/Metal and AOR lover this will be another gem to cherish. For me it’s just another acceptable album by some good musicians, from whom I expected more than I received.