[Oroz]

I'm producing, recording and mixing a Punk/Rock/Pop band and we don't have enough budget to Master our record properly so I'm mastering it ITB in my studio (like I've done with basically all my clients for the same reason). I'm using Protools and Massey's L2007 basically, with a little touch of EQ here and there. Now, the problem that I'm having is with the "ballad" of the album. I can't make it as loud as the other songs and by that I mean to make the loudest part of the song, the chorus, as loud as the others (the song has dynamics). I've tried lowering the bass in the mix to see if that was eating up a lot of energy from the mastering process and it helpt a little but I'm not there yet, I've also tried to give it a little more punch with upward compression (been reading Mastering Audio) and it helpt but not enough.

What tips and recommendations can you give to pull this off? How can I make the ballad as loud as the other songs?