Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: 22.01.2016
Production: Eric Martensson
Album length: 44.01
Genre: Melodic Rock / Hard Rock
It’s been five months since this album officially dropped, but it’s still well worth a spotlight, because it’s a seriously high-quality record that sits right at the top of this year’s releases in the modern end of the melodic rock spectrum. Two forces have joined up for this project: Danish vocalist Ronnie Atkins, the famed frontman of legendary Danish hard rockers Pretty Maids, and on the other side, Swede Erik Martensson, a dozen years younger but fiercely driven and ambitious, the new generation’s point man for melodic rock, known for his work in Eclipse and W.E.T.
Considering that a pile of these kinds of projects, often pitched by the labels themselves, are doomed to flop because they feel forced and hollow, the debut from Nordic Union is anything but. Eric Martensson, rock’s wonder kid, keeps up his unbelievable songwriting drive and fire. The unstoppable workaholic has once again cooked up a heap of excellent tracks that hit you on the first listen, just as melodic rock and AOR should. The choruses grab you instantly and are the atmospheric peaks of the songs. The tracks build the mood gradually from verse to chorus and keep the bombast riding at an extremely high level the whole way through.
Even though synths are layered over the guitar riff arrangements (an expected and necessary move, after all), the guitars are pushed up front in the sound, so the album as a whole comes across plenty edgy. That’s a trademark of Eclipse albums, by the way. Now, Martensson usually works with vocalists who have a purely melodic, authoritative approach, but this time he’s teamed up with a vocal heavyweight whose basic expression is a raspy, gritty voice. Ronnie Atkins being Ronnie Atkins, as ever. Picture Pretty Maids tackling a fully melodic rock record, say, writing a whole album in the style of “Little Drops of Heaven”.
Martensson has once again taken all the reins into his own hands. He played all the instruments himself and sang the backing vocals, apart from the drums and a few guitar solos, and this Swedish perfectionist also delivered yet another brilliant production that carries the album. This time you get to pick the favorites yourself, because there are simply no dips in quality between the tracks. In that respect they’re all on equal footing, led by the ballad Every Heartbeat. The songs grab you instantly and have a sneakily seductive effect.
This is an album that will suit fans of Eclipse and W.E.T. better than Pretty Maids fans! That’s the honest truth. “Nordic Union” is clear proof that Atkins’ voice works just as beautifully and seductively on softer notes. The man’s voice is in the right place at every single moment. A truly lovely melodic rock release that’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre!
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 8.5 / 10
Track list:
1. The War Has Begun
2. Hypocrisy
3. Wide Awake
4. Every Heartbeart
5. When Death Is Calling
6. 21 Guns
7. Falling
8. The Other Side
9. Point Of No Return
10. True Love Awaits You
11. Go
12. When Death Is Calling* (acoustic version)
*…bonus track
Lineup:
Ronnie Atkins – vocals, backing vocals
Erik Martensson – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Magnus Ulfstedt – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Thomas Larsson – guitar solo on “Every Heartbest” and “Wide Awake”
Fredrik Folkare – guitar solo on “Point Of No Return” and “Hypocrisy”
Magnus Henriksson – guitar solo on “The War Has Begun”
