Alestorm: Captain Morgan's Revenge
When a band calls itself “Alestorm” and carries the slogan “True Scottish pirate metal”, it’s almost impossible not to be intrigued.
Let’s see if we are dealing with some real pirates or mere landlubbers.
Pirate Metal. Don’t we all know and love it? I, for one, never heard of it before and thought Alestorm were the first. Some digging in wikipedia revealed it has been around for some time and it s a sub-genre of Folk Metal. Interesting.
A friend on IRC tipped me on Alestorm. At first I thought they’d be some weirdo’s like the Toy Dolls singing pirate themed songs, but no! The album opens with the track Over the seas. I am welcomed by pirate music with heavy guitars in the background. After a short but very appealing opening, the band’s front man starts singing:
Many moons ago in a faraway land, I met an old man with a hook for a hand.
I was sold. Pirate themed, check. Metal, check. Witty lyrics, check. This seems to be the Alestorm formula. Add a singer with a low, arrrrr voice who sings clear so we can hear the witty lyrics.
After the great first song we move on to the title track: Captain Morgan’s Revenge. Also the longest song on the album with 6:43 in length and my favourite song on the album. It starts with an opening reminding us of an epic pirate voyage and flashbacks of Pirates of the Carribean pop into your head. In come the accordeons leading us to the first verse of the song. A tale of a crew committing mutiny and making their captain, Morgan, walk the plank. Falling down he swears a deadly curse following the pirates for the rest of their lives. As with track one, the song is great fun and well made. I especially love the chorus.
Eight more tracks follow on the album. Some slow, some fast and more heavy. I don’t love all tracks, but never disliked any of them. Track 3 is faster and heavier than tracks 1 & 2 with less melody, followed by Nancy the tavern wench, a slower track about Nancy who runs a den of debauchery, violence and sin where all kinds of pirates go.
Except for track 10, the unofficial Scottish national anthem, all other tracks are fast paced, describing various pirate themes.
All in all I really liked the album. It’s good stuff to play in the car from work or when being at work. If you like Folk Metal or Metal in general and are open to interesting takes on the genre, check out Alestorm’s debut. Available from Napalm Records for a mere 12 euro’s, you can’t go wrong!
Tracklist
- Over the Seas 3:55
- Captain Morgan’s Revenge 6:43
- The Huntmaster 5:00
- Nancy the Tavern Wench 4:53
- Death Before the Mast 3:17
- Terror of the High Seas 3:51
- Set Sail and Conquer 4:38
- Of Treasure 2:58
- Wenches & Mead 3:42
- Flower of Scotland 2:38