Metal Militia

I just heard about this. Well played, Square, well played. I joyously await the day my deathless metal hordes march before me, burning a fiery swath across the landscape as they sack and pillage to the shrieking chaos of Bolt Thrower’s “As the World Burns“.

In other words, I’m excited.

Review: Alestorm – Captain Morgan’s Revenge

I’m going to try to put up a few reviews of some music over the next year, as a way of practicing my writing, as well as telling people who probably don’t care about my passion for metal. So buckle up me hearties, ‘ere we go.

Alestorm is a band I stumbled on by accident one day while surfing Amazon. Metal isn’t that popular down in Northern Virgina, at least not like back home in Canada, so most of my purchases tend to be online. Anyway, when I first saw the title Alestorm: Captain Morgan’s Revenge, I immediately thought, “It’s Metal? It’s PIRATES? Why don’t I own this already?”. My fascination with piracy in the Age of Sail, both the romantic and the reality, is a matter of public record. As such, this was really an impulse purchase; most gimmick bands often turn out to be terrible. But that was not the case here.

Alestorm describes themselves as “Scottish pirate metal”, and while their genre name may seem overly specific, it is no less apt. Don’t be fooled though; despite the name, this is pure power metal, albeit with a definite Scottish flavor and songs focused almost exclusively on pirate life. The vocalist has an excellent voice, loud and powerful with just enough of the metal growl to keep things interesting, without becoming incomprehensible or painful to listen to. Lyrics are well written and appropriate to the style. Guitars are technically proficient and definitely ahead of the curve. They even managed to sneak a few non-traditional (i.e. not metal) instruments in here. I can recall hearing harpsichords, bagpipes and accordions at some points. These guys know their stuff, and they show it off with flair but without pretension.

A handful of songs stand out in my mind. The opening Over the Seas is quite good, and the title track Captain Morgan’s Revenge is just outstanding, recalling to mind classic tales of buccaneers like Barrett’s Privateers. The final song on the album, Flower of Scotland, breaks with the album’s theme, but is easily one of their best performances. I’m a bit of a sucker for metal versions of classic songs, like Apocalyptica’s version of Hall of the Mountain King, or Iced Earth’s stirring Star-Spangled Banner. The remaining songs all run the gamut from decent to good, with nothing that really sounds like filler.

A quite respectable debut, all things considered. The only downside is that they may have unintentionally set the bar a little high; any sophomore effort will be expected to top this otherwise excellent album, and that’s a hurdle which many bands fail to clear. All in all, if you enjoy metal, and have even a passing interest in pirates (and honestly, who with a Y chromosome doesn’t?), you should give Captain Morgan’s Revenge a listen. Personally, I’m looking forward to plunderin’ these lads’ next album, yar.

Many years have passed now
Yet the curse still lives on ,
And now we rot in a black prison cell
Waiting for our true calling in hell!