The past couple of years have been very eventful for the Heavy Metal Pirates, Alestorm. Just two years ago, they were known as Battleheart and landed a deal with Napalm Records, resulting in their name being changed to Alestorm due to their previous name being similar to label-mates, Battlelore.Then last year they released their debut album, Captain Morgan's Revenge which showcased the band's style of "Pirate Metal" on a much larger scale. The album's 10 tracks full of tales about pirates, booze, tavern wenches and sailing the seven seas was an instant hit with a lot of people in the metal scene but it left a lot wanting more since the album was a tad brief. After finding a replacement guitarist, they are ready to entertain the metal crowd once again with their new EP Leviathan, and they entertain well.
Leviathan consists of a mere four tracks, with only one new track. The rest of the EP consists of two re-recordings and a cover. The one original song is the title track which is a power metal tale about the mythical beast, leviathan. This track is a lot slower and sounds a lot more epic than most of the songs on Captain Morgan's Revenge with the lyrics telling journey of the group's unsuccessful attempt to slay the deadly beast. The rhythm section comes through well on this track, too with the keyboards making it feel like you're listening to someone tell you the tale first-hand. The next track is a cover of "Wolves of the Sea" which was done by Pirates of the Sea (Latvia's entry in the Eurovision contest). This is done in typical Alestorm fashion and outdoes the original version by a longshot. It's fun to sing along to and has that authentic pirate feel that made Captain Morgan's Revenge great. "Weiber Und Wein" is a re-recording of "Wenches and Mead" and sound identitcal to the album version except it is sung in German. This comes off as comical and fun at first but "Wenches and Mead" was a great song thanks to it's lyrics and unless you speak German, this version doesn't have the same effect. The final track is a re-recording of "Heavy Metal Pirates," which is a leftover from their days as Battleheart. It's pretty much another typical song you'd expect from the band with an extremely catchy chorus that'll have you singing along every time. Definitely closes the album on a good note.
Alestorm do manage to pull off the pirate metal gimmick very well. As noted earlier, they sound very authentic, display a decent amount of talent and are just fun to listen to. However, Leviathan sufferes from the same problems the album did; it leaves you wanting more. It's only 4 tracks long and with only one of them being a new, original song. Granted, the original song was very impressive and the cover blows away the original version, the other two seemed kind of pointless to include, especially the re-recording of "Wenches & Mead." In the end, Leviathan is a fun listen and those who are fans of the band will definitely enjoy this a lot. Hopefully Alestorm will attempt to progress a bit and try different things when they record their next full-length whenever that may be.
