I heard this band's two demos as Battleheart and was, truth be told, not that impressed, but this rocks. Alestorm are a genuine Scottish band from Perth and they have cooked up a mighty steaming tankard of metal for their debut album, Captain Morgan's Revenge.
Any band that goes with the pirate theme is going to get compared to Running Wild, but you can't dock this band for not being RW, because they are not really doing the same kind of thing musically. This is much more in the vein of Turisas, except that's not a fair comparison, since Turisas suck ass. I described it on first spin as "Ironsword crossed with Bal-Sagoth and obsessed with pirates", which is maybe not exact, but pretty close. There are a lot of keys on this album, but I like the way they are used, and they are backed up by some kickass riffing with a killer tone. Opener "Over The Seas" is a pretty good tune, but the title track really gets things going with great riffs and a killer chorus. There are faster and heavier tunes like "The Huntmaster" and the almost thrashy "Death Before The Mast". Even the ballad "Nancy The Tavern Wench" has a cool, beer-hall-sing-along chorus that sticks in your head.
The vocals are a thrash-styled gargle, neither tuneless nor clean by any stretch. They have a kind of leering gusto for the material that just suits the music well, and the lyrics are actually quite clever in places. Pirate Metal should be packed with songs about bloodthirsty, smoke-eating action, wenching, and gold, and these songs deliver that in spades with genuine glee and gallows humor.
If you're expecting this to sound just like Running Wild because "That's what Pirate Metal sounds like", then you're going to be put off by a band who are doing more their own thing. By any measure, however, Alestorm's debut is full of music that just rocks. Piratical entertainment of the first order and highly recommended.
