Magnus Karlsson has been the mastermind of several high-end projects for the past 15 years or so. Well known for his guitar and songwriting displays with Primal Fear, the Swedish virtuoso has a knack for the melodic side as well, providing great support to groups like Allen/Lande and Kiske/Sommerville, not to mention his time with the awesome Last Tribe. With such a rich history and great creative prowess, his solo act was just a matter of time and came to life in 2011; ‘We Are the Night’ is the third full length by Magnus’ Free Fall and takes his melodic, almost AOR heavy metal style to a commonplace for him, albeit not short of killer moments.
Continuing the agenda of bringing stars (and other more anonymous names) to perform the vocal duties, Karlsson once again gathered a respectable lineup. Noora Louhimo (Battle Beast), Dino Jelusick (Animal Drive, Dirty Shirley), Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), Renan Zonta (Electric Mob), Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath), and Mike Andersson (Cloudscape) borrow their voice, while Anders Kollerfors man’s the drumkit.
Ranging between full-on AOR tracks full of melodic riffs and keyboard layers to more prominent, heavier displays of musicality, the album follows more or less the same path from beginning to end. The vocal choices made by Karlsson help to form a homogenous nature and bringing a sense of continuity to the record, rather than just being a compilation of songs with guest vocals.
It’s remarkable to see powerhouses like Ronnie Romero showcasing all his vocal range in “One by One” and Tony Martin doing a show of his own in the good “Temples and Towers” and “Far From Over”, as well as to see a nice change in the female participation on the effort, this time around by Noora Louhimo; her harsh and angry vocal tone differs from what Karlsson is used to when writing slower songs, and “Queen of Fire” is definitely a success story.
As the exceptional songwriter he is, Karlsson surgically wrote each song to match each vocalist, catering to their strong points and providing space for them to be the center of attention when needed. This paves the way for different, dynamic shredding and singular melodic riffing.
However, the guitar-keyboard duo is where this truly shines. Even the instrumental “On My Way Back To Earth” has plenty of catchy moments that will stay in your head for a while, and the crystal clear mixing done by Jacob Hansen (ex-Anubis Gate, Invocator, Pyramaze) leverages this instrumental part to another level.
‘We are the Night’ is a highly enjoyable album, especially if you’re a fan of the whole heavy rock, a melodic metal trend that’s been flooding the European scene for some time now. It could serve either as background music if you’re doing something else or as a record to lie down and listen to by paying full attention; it’s because of this “accessible” character that the album is a winner and a good entryway to Karlsson’s discography. Recommended.