Ronnie Atkins: 3. Cancer: 0. In case you haven’t been keeping track, that is the current score in the battle between the legendary Pretty Maids frontman and end stage lung cancer. Most would’ve perished this far into such a debilitating illness, but I can’t help but think Atkins’ need to make as much music as possible before his untimely demise has helped prolong his existence. It all started with two solo albums, One Shot and Make It Count. These AOR centric affairs showcased a different side of Atkins, one that is seldom explored within the confines of Pretty Maids.
However, as cool as it was to hear Atkins singing material better suited for Survivor or Journey, at the end of the day, he’s a metal singer, and one of the finest of his era at that. Not only that, but his voice has only grown more impactful with time. Enter Erik Mårtensson. The Eclipse mastermind first teamed up with Atkins in 2015 to record the self titled debut of their collaborative project, Nordic Union. For Mårtensson, it was a musical homage to the 80s metal bands who shaped his youth. For Atkins, it was an opportunity to sing old school metal again, as Pretty Maids had started to adapt to modern metal with each subsequent release.
Fast forward 7 years later and Nordic Union is back with their third (and hopefully not final) full length album, Animalistic. The album is without a doubt their heaviest yet, shedding whatever AOR undertones lay beneath their last two releases in exchange for a tough, pseudo-power metal exterior. This is made evident on the opening “On This Day I Fight”. Although I never cared much for this brand of power metal (chug riffs, choir vocals, etc.), Atkins and Mårtensson execute it with grace. And even when the songs aren’t this muscular, they’re triumphant and uplifting in nature. “In Every Waking Hour” and “This Means War” for example have one foot set in Future World era Pretty Maids, the other set in Bleed and Scream era Eclipse.
As these types of melodic affairs go, there aren’t too many musical surprises throughout, with the exception of the doom infused “If I Could Fly”. The rest of the album ranges from the ultra heavy (“Wildfire”, “King for a Day”) to the ultra poppy (“Scream”, “Animalistic”). It should be noted that even at its most accessible, Animalistic is a metal album through and through; a metal album that just so happens to have catchy melodies. “Animalistic” in particular stands out to me, its sharp lyricism and even sharper hooks being reminiscent of Defenders of the Faith era Judas Priest, which is always a plus in my book.
The union between Atkins and Mårtensson is a strong one. This isn’t a soulless supergroup cash-grab by any means. Each of the songs on Animalistic contain as much power as any song on a latter day Pretty Maids or Eclipse album. If the powers that be intervene, and this is Nordic Union’s last hurrah, let the record show that these two Scandinavian metal staples went out all guns blazing, taking no prisoners along the way. They truly are Animalistic!
7 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: Melodic Heavy Metal
For fans of: Pretty Maids, Eclipse, New Horizon