Ultima Thule - Sverige, Sverige Fosterland

Dim Records

 

After a transformation of style, influences and looks, punk band The Ugly Spots eventually changed their name to Ultima Thule in 1982. It wasn’t until 1985 though that the Swedish Viking rock pioneers released their classic, and much sought after, debut EP “Sverige, Sverige Fosterland”. This year the ‘Vikingarock’ legends celebrate the 30th anniversary of this release and what better way to do that than with a complete re-recording of this milestone in the band’s history?

 

If you are familiar with Ultima Thule you know that the original release was recorded in the classic line-up, with current vocalist Jan Thörnblom still ‘just’ on guitar and Bruno Hansen taking care of the vocal duties. For this release the current line-up (that hasn’t changed ever since Hansen’s departure) reunites with Bruno once again (just as on the “30 Åriga Kriget” mini-LP that celebrated the 30th anniversary of the band) as a result that both Jan and Bruno perform part of the lead-vocals.

 

The songs, “Sverige, Sverige Fosterland”, “Engelbrektsmarschen”, Ultima Thule’s performance of Sweden’s national anthem “Du Gamla De Fria” and the hymn that celebrates the weekend “Friday Evening”, they won’t bring anything new to the fans, but I can easily say that these re-recordings are the best and most powerful versions ever recorded! Although I am not a fan of everything these Swedes have ever done, they always managed to combine strong song structure with incredible melodies and these thirty year old songs are no exception!

 

An absolute must-have for the fans of Ultima Thule that is out now on CD-single and will be available on 7” later on this year!