Album Review: Nordic Union - Second Coming

Erik Martensson has been a very busy guy. Just this year, he has already put out records with W.E.T. and Ammunition, and his main gig Eclipse put out a record last year as well. We are in no short supply of his songs, and yet here we find ourselves ready for another one. This is the second outing with Ronnie Atkins of Pretty Maids handling the vocals, which is about the only thing that differentiates all of these groups. Nordic Union is actually my favorite of the records I have heard from him, but I can't tell if that's because Ronnie's voice gives the music a slightly different color, or because it was the first one I spent any real time with. We're about to find that out with this record.

The two singles that were put out before the release, "Walk With Me Through The Fire" and "Because Of Us" didn't hit me the way the first records did. After hearing so many of Erik's songs, his tendencies are showing through so much that it's hard to get as excited about hearing the same thing yet again. That's not to say it isn't good, because W.E.T.'s album is one of the best of the year, but it does dilute the impact each album is able to make.

You get all of that wrapped up nicely in the opening track, "My Fear And My Faith". It starts out with a heavy riff, and builds into a hooky chorus that is everything melodic rock should be. That hook, though, is nearly the same as a melody from the first album. It sounds great, until you remember you've already heard it. I don't say this just to say it. I am a songwriter myself, so I know that every musician has a certain number of ideas in their reservoir. I have been worried for a while that Erik is writing songs and putting out albums too quickly, burning through the melodies he has on tap. That fear is starting to materialize here. This record is melodic rock goodness through and through, but it's too familiar for its own good.

I hate to focus on records other than the one I'm talking about, but it feels necessary. "Second Coming" is a very good record, and it does exactly what the excellent first Nordic Union album did. I have to be honest and say that it took me quite a few spins before I was fully embracing this record as being at the same level as the first one, because I already reviewed and enjoyed two other records that sound nearly identical to it this year. There's the adage, "familiarity breeds contempt". That's going way too far, because I do love this music, but there is a creeping sense of deja vu that takes a fair few listens to fully wash away.

Let's get back to the positives here. Erik is a master of his craft, so this is an album of melodic earworms that will surely please any fan of hooky hard rock. I also love the harder edge Ronnie's voice gives to the music, which stops it from ever feeling a bit too fluffy. They fit exceptionally well together, and I genuinely do prefer this approach to Eclipse, even if that puts me in the minority. In a vacuum, there isn't anything at all I could complain about with this record. It's melodic rock exactly as it should be.

We get one new moment in "Breathtaking", which is easily my favorite track on the record. The pace is slower, the mood heavier, and because it's something just a hair different than everything else, it stands out. It doesn't sound like it, but it fills the same role "Hypocricy" did on the first record. It's a sheer ass-kicker.

So what it comes down to is this; "Second Coming" is a great melodic rock album, and it sits alongside the first record as being just about as good as this style can be done. I would be raving even more about it if this was the first time in 2018 I was hearing this. As much as I do want to stress my affection for the record, and how it will certainly wind up being one of the best records of the year when all is said and done, it was a more difficult process to get there than it should have been. Ammunition, W.E.T., and Nordic Union's albums this year are all excellent, but they stand in direct competition with each other, which isn't advantageous.

Nordic Union, though, is my favorite of the bunch. "Second Coming" may not be as novel, but it's just as good.