The keyboards swell, the guitar crests and falls, and the drums beat against the hull: hoist the sails landlubber, you're listening to Alestorm! On the fringes of power metal, Alestorm has, with drunken glee, been practising their own genre: 'true Scottish pirate metal'. “Captain Morgan's Revenge”, their 2008 debut, is one of the ultimate feel good albums. The soaring keyboard melodies, the rollicking riffs, and Christopher Bowe's yarr!-laden vocal delivery combine to create a sound that is almost... perfect. The lyrical content is fitting: songs of gold, ale, wenches and battle. There are frequent references to the story of a cursed crew and cursed gold; not-subtle-at-all references to “Pirates of the Caribbean”.
Indeed, these are songs that are clearly about Disney pirates; silly accents and hook-hands and all. You won't find any lyric about powder-monkeys in here, so if you're expecting a grown-up treatment of pirate life, stay well away. Even the more violent songs such as “Terror on the High Seas” sound upbeat and energetic: battle for the joy of it. The slower songs like “Nancy the Tavern Wench” are less ballads and more the sort of thing you're supposed to sing with everyone in a tavern. It's a brilliant, short album that is almost flawless. However, “The Huntmaster” is a song that feels unnecessary and “Flower of Scotland” is probably awesome if you're Scottish, but is otherwise tacked onto an album that should have ended with “Wenches & Mead”. Yes, there's a song called “Wenches & Mead”. Why aren't you listening to this already?
Verdict: Pirate metal is what it says on the tin, and pirate metal is what you get. If pirate metal sounds like your sort of thing, then oh my God yes get this album.
Listen if You Like: Helloween, Pirates of the Caribbean, a good time.