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Animalistic is the third album from Nordic Union, a collaboration between Pretty Maids' Ronnie Atkins and Eclipse's Erik Mårtensson. Melodic heavy metal with a dose of hard rock is what this band plays and they certainly play it well; nothing less than you would expect from two veterans of the scene. Whether it is faster songs, like "On This Day I Fight" and "Wildfire," ballads like "Riot" and "Last Man Alive" or mid-tempo anthems (the rest of the album for the most part), everything is spot-on, from the gravelly vocals of Atkins to the intertwining guitar and keyboard melodies of Mårtensson. There's not a note out of place and the hooks come in bunches making it hard not to tap your foot or even do a bit of singing along. The songwriting is another strength as all the songs on Animalistic do what they were intended to do but I can't help feeling there's nothing that I haven't heard time and again from melodic metal bands so there is "playing it safe" feel to the album. Nevertheless, if you are into bands like Fifth Angel, Masterplan, Pretty Maids, and others like that, you should give Animalistic a listen as it should be right up your alley.