Review Summary: A pirate’s life for me.
I was ready to completely write off Alestorm before listening to Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum. Their last two albums had the usual pirate-y goodness, but Alestorm have been lacking something since their 2009 album Black Sails at Midnight. Whatever it was they were lacking, Alestorm have reopened their treasure chest once more, but this time instead of scraping the barrel, there’s plenty of booty. The band sounds reinvigorated and replenished, partly from chugging a mystical brew of rum, and the other part from good songwriting and pinpoint focus. Their epic conquest is finally paying off, and I am certainly down for riding the wave.
Alestorm are a hit or miss band. I can always expect a handful of clunkers, yet they seemingly took notes this time, and this is reminiscent of their best work. Their formula is perfected here, with a superb combination of metal and tomfoolery, surprisingly not overbearing this time. Their music is absolutely obnoxious, singing, “I’m a ***ing pirate”, void of tact, yet the melodies will make you shake your peg leg. Their piracy gimmick hits the mark this time, with more catchy sea shanties than ever before. The constant presence of the accordion brings cheesy beats that are endearing, and the lyrics are right on the money.
This is Alestorm as you’ve heard before, there is no doubt about that. There is no musical revelation here, only an album more solid than it has right to be. The lyrics are the perfect level of cheese, good enough to sing along and raise a pirate flag to, without desiring death upon one self. Choruses kept me entertained throughout as well, and dare I say it? I will say it. I enjoyed this album and almost considered it nice to listen to - definitely not as nice as a band with a serious vocalist - but still. In terms of pirate metal, you can har-har-hardly go wrong with Alestorm’s latest fart, one of their finest offerings, worth its wait in gold.
