ALESTORM & TYR
CAMDEN UNDERWORLD - 03/05/09
It be sold out at t’ Camden Underworld. T’ queue snakes around t’ block like a grog shop when t’ Victory’s in port – two nights after Angel Witch almost sold out t’ same venue. It be a party atmosphere. T’ cabin boys and girls, rightly bedecked in t’ finest tricorns, heaving bosoms and plastic parrots is getting their first taste of rum and’ll be spewing it onto t’ cobbles later. This righteous behaviour be ‘cos Alestorm be in town. Arrrrr.
With Tyr on the quarterdeck all pirate silliness be forgotten. Criminally under-rated, Tyr – one of those acts who come across better live than on record – are probably the best live Battle Metal band there is. Resplendent in chainmail and leather armour they look like they just strode off the battlefield of Kringen. Unlike competitors such as Amon Amarth, what they deliver also sounds highly authentic and completely sincere. Tyr mainman Heri Joensen exudes immense personal charisma and integrity, but it isn’t all about Joensen. Bass player Gunnar Thomsen is on equally fine form, haranguing and cajoling an increasingly frenzied crowd. Tyr’s main strength is that in Joensen, Thomsen and guitarist Terji Skibenæs they have three strong vocalists who can deliver folk-influenced three part harmonies. The result is both uplifting and impressive. Not so much so that the musical perfection left the Metal Team UK reviewer with tears in his eyes though. There was a fly in there, right?
Joensen makes friends reminding the locals of the times we English have applied the hammer to Tyr’s old whipping boys the Scots. Sticking with the hammer theme we get to chant along to ‘Hold the Heathen Hammer High’ and later ‘Hail the Hammer’. They lapse into Faroese when dealing with themes unrelated to hammers, but I recognise ‘Lokka Tattur’ at least. Tyr’s show is mesmerizing and they rightly win many converts, encoring with a well-judged cover of ‘Whisky in the Jar’ which gets the floor heaving. A word to the pubescent Alestorm fan who got over-excited enough to fling a bottle at Gunnar Thomsen. Beware. These heathens remember the old traditions and that might extend to the Blood Eagle. If they don’t one Metal Team UK reviewer does. You don’t diss the mighty.
An’ now me hearties it be time to ‘yo ho ho’ with Alestorm. Where Tyr be authenticity, Alestorm be more Jack Sparrow than Jack ‘Awkins. An’ be it right to be jolly fun pirates? Where’s be t’ song about t’ eyeless corpse of Captain Kidd hanging in t’ gibbet, or Blackbeard’s decapitated head bobbing from t’ bowsprit of t’ Adventure? Have nobody considered t’ moral implications? Har har har only joking kiddies! Be we Indie-listening Guardian readers? No! We be ‘Heavy Metal Pirates’! Alestorm duly storm t’ deck with ‘Set Sail and Conquer’. The crew go wild but it do feel awful muted. T’ ghost of Tyr lingers like a sea mist, an’ it takes a bit to shake ‘em off. Eventually Alestorm warm to t’ task. By t’ time we get to shanties like ‘Wenches and Mead’ and the Perth Pirates’ classic ‘Huntmaster’ t’ floor be heaving like t’ seas at t’ Cape. ‘Captain Morgan’s Revenge’ be another singalong classic and t’ new material be promising indeed. All too soon these two great bands – and great shipmates - sail off into t’ sunset leaving a vibe as happy as t’ sunset on Tortuga.
Graham Cushway
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