Nordic Union - Animalistic

[Stefan]

 

New album 'Animalistic' out August 5 through Frontiers.

More info to come...

[Glen]

2nd album was pretty weak compared to the debut, see how this one goes 🤔

[lettard]

Yeah liked the debut,the 2nd had some moments so i'll give this one a go also  

[AlphaMale]

Agreed with both of you. First disc was killer, second disc a lot of filler.

Hopefully they write better tunes on this one.

[tobi is an animal]

A Frontiers release I'm looking forward to, weird.  I have a hunch this will be the best of the 3.

[Eric3]

If that isn't an Erik Martensson album title!

 

[T-BONE]

Ronnie is pumping out a lot of stuff lately. Sad to see what he's going through.

I hope this one is stronger than the last one. It was ok, but not near the debut. I think Erik is spreading himself a little too thin with all these side projects. I haven't really even been too excited for the last few Eclipse albums. The songs are sounding too much alike.

[tobi is an animal]

The War Has Begun / My Fear And My Faith

Hypocrisy / Because Of Us

Wide Awake / It Burns

Every Heartbeat / Walk Me Through The Fire

When Death Is Calling / New Life Begins

21 Guns / The Final War

Falling / Breathtaking

The Other Side / Rock's Still Rolling

Point Of No Return / Die Together

True Love Awaits You / The Best Thing I Never Had

Go / Outrun You

[tts42572]

Yeah, I don't know if I'm really that excited about this.

I dig listen to the debut quite a bit but the second album didn't get much play from me at all.  And I don't really find myself having a whole lot of desire to listen to either now.  I've got a few songs in my main playlist that come up once in awhile and that's about it.

I think I've just had a lot of saturation the past 4-5 years on Pretty Maids, Ronnie's Solo stuff, Eclipse, WET, etc. 

Don't get me wrong, I'll still check it out and I'm sure it'll have some good tunes.  And it's great that Ronnie is making more music.  But I'm not really expecting to be that taken by it.

[Tabe]

My usual reaction when I see news of an Erik Martensson project album is "dang, wish it was a new Eclipse album instead".  Same reaction this time   I'm still looking forward to it though.

[Stefan]

 

 

 

From Frontiers:

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.), have announced their third album, "Animalistic". 
As has been well documented at this point, Atkins was recently given a stage four cancer diagnosis, but rather than sit at home and sulk, the legendary frontman has thrown himself into creating more music. March 2021 saw the release of his solo album, "One Shot", which was followed almost one year to the day later in March 2022 by another solo album, "Make It Count". Not satisfied with resting on his laurels, Atkins partnered up with Martensson in late 2021 and early 2022 to work on Nordic Union's third album, "Animalistic".

Fans of previous Nordic Union's album 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. 
The partnership between the two musicians started in 2015, when Frontiers President and Head of A&R, Serafino Perugino had the idea to bring the two together to create some uncompromising Scandinavian melodic hard rock. Martensson worked on some demos and sent them off to Atkins for him to hear. The enthusiastic reaction from Atkins sparked a brand new musical alliance that culminated in Nordic Union’s self-titled debut album, which was released in January 2016. Musically, the duo presented a hybrid of the more melodic aspects of Pretty Maids’ sound mixed with elements of Eclipse, Talisman, and W.E.T., while still possessing their own identity.

Following requests from fans for a follow up to the debut, the two musicians decided to give Nordic Union another shot, so after a few months of production, “Second Coming” was finished and unleashed in October 2018. Every aspect of the album screamed QUALITY. The songwriting was of the highest standards, the musicianship faultless, and the production top notch, crisp and clear as a bell. Atkins deftly demonstrated throughout the album that he knows how to use his voice effectively at any given point in a song. Heavy riffs, soaring vocals, thumping beats, and a grand ballad…this album had it all and flowed perfectly with songs that are memorable, rocking, and of course, melodic.

Come 2022, fans can one again expect to be floored by another gem from Nordic Union!

Line-Up:
Ronnie Atkins - Lead & Backing Vocals
Erik Martensson - Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Keyboards and Backing Vocals

Additional Musicians:
Fredrik Folkare - Lead Guitar
Henrik Eriksson - Drums
Thomas Larsson - Lead Guitar on "Scream", "Riot", & "Last Man Alive"

 

Tracklisting:
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

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by Stefan

[Eric3]

What the fuck is that artwork? LOL

[AlphaMale]

1 minute ago, Eric3 said:

What the fuck is that artwork? LOL

[Stefan]

New video for 'In Every Waking Hour' coming soon...

 

 

[Stefan]

On 6/13/2022 at 9:21 PM, Stefan said:

New video for 'In Every Waking Hour' coming soon...

 

 

New song 'In Every Waking Hour' 

 

 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

On 6/13/2022 at 9:44 AM, Eric3 said:

What the fuck is that artwork? LOL

Yeah, if only one of those dogs had their mouth shut it would look a lot better. 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Not bad. 

[Glen]

5 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Not bad. 

that's about it. Leaning towards the 2nd record rather than the debut so it's not doing much for me 

[Mr.AOR]

Pass...

[tts42572]

On 6/15/2022 at 2:55 AM, Glen said:

that's about it. Leaning towards the 2nd record rather than the debut so it's not doing much for me 

Kind of where I'm at too.

Basically, sounds fine and the heaviness is cool but at the same time just not all that catchy and not sure it has much replay value for me.  And that's basically exactly how I ended up feeling about their second album.

I hate to say it knowing Ronnie's situation but I think part of my problem also might be that I'm just a bit saturated on his stuff.  I mean, there was plenty of Pretty Maids music, 2 solo albums recently, the 2 Nordic Union albums...and now another Nordic Union album. 

I'll definitely still check the album out though and I'm sure there will be some good stuff on it but it's not overly exciting me at the moment.  

Edited July 20, 2022 by tts42572

[Eric3]

This sounds like early/mid-2000s In Flames with a better vocalist. I'm not really feeling it.

[AlphaMale]

That track is the first single? Bog average.

[Dead Planet]

Tough crowd....personally I like that song.....

[tobi is an animal]

Album number three is off to a great start. 

[AlphaMale]

2 hours ago, tobi is an animal said:

Album number three is off to a great start. 

Bad Sign. Tobi likes it (he rarely likes anything!) and we all don't.