Alright, lets start by stating the goddamned bleeding obvious; pirate metal is a gimmick. Accept that, and don’t expect anything too much from it and you’ll find it’s all quite good fun. For a while, at least, but the thing about novelties is it can soon wear thin. SS Alestorm is no longer the only ship on the high seas, and in the past few weeks I have heard enough yarr’s and shiver me timbers to make me want to walk the plank.
Alestorm have certainly developed their own formula, which they show no sign of deviating from. If you own their 2008 debut ‘Captain Morgan’s Revenge’ then you will have a rough idea of what’s going down on this follow up, and take it from me, you won’t find any surprises! Setting sail, embarking on ‘The Quest’ we are thrown into rough waters; galloping riffs and storming drums take us through to ‘That Famous Ol’ Spiced’ which splashes on the aftershave by the bucket load in an attempt to woo our favourite Tavern Wench, Nancy; it may not steal her heart, but it does steal more than a hint from the track in question from album number one.
‘Keelhauled’ is simply great fun; a right ol’ knees up and a rum swigging, swashbuckling nautical romp, which tires out sufficiently to put my feet up on the chest and reflect on ‘The End Of Our Days.’ ‘Chronicles Of Vengeance’ brings an epic quest to an end before a cover of ‘Wolves Of The Sea’ finishes us off proper. I could go into more detail on the music here, but the fact is there really isn’t a lot to say without repeating what I probably said in my review of their debut. You have your sing along anthems; Wolves Of The Sea’ and ‘Black Sails At Midnight’ which carries a trace of Bodomism in the scything riffage and which I can see going down a storm live.
The problem is not that this isn’t a good album, but that it doesn’t offer anything different. To make a comparison to a similar band in some respects, Turisas burst on the scene in 2004 with a solid debut album with a couple of anthemic numbers that kept your thirst satiated right up until the follow up in 2007. Three years later. This album blew the debut right out of the water; a truly grandiloquent piece of work from start to finish, that still remains in heavy rotation in my house. They took their time. They grew as a band, tried out new ideas and it paid off. Alestorm, while musically bearing some similar traits, are way more limited in what they can do and the evidence here shows they are sticking to the safe route. Two albums and one E.P. have passed by and while this is a perfectly enjoyable album, it offers nothing new and it doesn’t surpass their debut. These buccaneers clearly have a steady ride ahead, but unless they power up the engines I think their magic will wear thin very quickly.
http://www.myspace.com/alestorm
http://www.napalmrecords.com
