NORDIC UNION – Animalistic (2022) *HQ*
NORDIC UNION, the ongoing musical collaboration between legendary Danish rock singer Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) and prolific Swedish songwriter and producer Erik Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.), are ready to release their third album, “Animalistic“.
Atkins partnered up with Martensson in late 2021 and early 2022 to work on Nordic Union’s new album, and as happened with the previous, fans will find nothing but pure melodic hard rock joy to soak in on this third opus. Martensson, on an absolute creative, and commercial, winning streak with the most recent Eclipse albums, wrote the bulk of the album with contributions from Atkins and Miqael Persson, and also produced, mixed, and mastered the album.
The results are nothing short of inspired and delightful. A true testament to the skills and talent of both Atkins and Martensson. This is pure Scandinavian ‘nordic’ melodic hard rock of the highest order!
Both previous NORDIC UNION are very good, ”Animalistic” should be the best, combining the best of the first two with an even more refined songwriting. Atkins’ advanced form of lung cancer, diagnosed only 3 years ago, has clearly pushed him into creating some of his best work.
This new album from this talented duo is the perfect ‘union’ between heavy riff driven music, big hooks and melodies and is a CD that can easily appeal to metalheads and fans of more melodic AOR styles equally.
Album opener ‘On This Day I Fight’ as well as songs such as ‘If I Could Fly’, ‘Scream’, ‘Wildfire’ and the title track are great examples of the melodic-heavy sound of the band with riffs that drive the songs at a hefty pace but also incorporating great vocal harmonies and choruses that are catchy as hell.
More AORish are ‘Riot’ and ‘Last Man Alive’ which bring the pace midtempo still retaining the energy and vibe of the rest of the album. It is clear that Ronnie and Erik have wonderful musical chemistry as the songs on this album are simply magnificent.
Fantastic CD all over. Oh, and I love the cover art.
HIGHLY Recommended
1. On This Day I Fight
2. In Every Waking Hour
3. If I Could Fly
4. Riot
5. This Means War
6. Scream
7. Animalistic
8. Wildfire
9. Shot In The Dark
10. Last Man Alive
11. King For A Day
Ronnie Atkins – Lead & Backing Vocals
Erik Martensson – Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Additional Musicians:
Henrik Eriksson – Drums
Fredrik Folkare – Lead Guitar
Thomas Larsson – Lead Guitar
Pre Order:
www.amazon.de/-/en/Nordic-Union/dp/B0B14PLR5N
