The mighty party-pirates are back with album eight, and another offering packed full of ‘blistering riffs, wild shanty-driven melodies, and utterly ridiculous lyrics—taking the high seas of metal to new depths.’ I’ve been a fan of the band for years at this point, with us even checking out their last album, so when this came across our desk there was no way I wasn’t checking it out! I think I’ve somehow only checked out one of the singles so far too, so am going in almost completely blind!
‘Hyperion Omniriff’ opens the album in perfectly Alestorm fashion, with a heavy riff and the usual awesome folk stuff coming in over the top. It feels like it’s going to be the perfect live opener, building up well and getting everyone clapping. Chris’ iconic vocals of course fit perfectly over the top of it all. It’s very folk, very piratey and very Alestorm. It’s a great chorus too, the backing vocals making it somehow even more catchy. It’s definitely more towards their roots, focusing more on the folk than the party, but the lyrics are still lighthearted and fun! The faster bridge is good, and leads to an awesome solo or two! We even get some pretty extreme screams tucked away after, making it heavier than I was expecting. It’s a damn good song, and a great way to open the album!
The bass creates a great driving force to start ‘Killed to Death by Piracy’, almost having a punk edge to it. It’s another track that builds perfectly towards the massive chorus, it all working to set it up. And we get another one of those awesome screams to cap it all off, too. It’s another silly song but is so fun, and an instant highlight already! I like the band adding in the synth for the second verse and, because of it, start talking about more futuristic stuff, that was a nice touch! And that riff for the bridge… DAMN. The solo over the top was the icing on the cake, too. It’s a really great song, and one I’ll definitely be listening to again a lot!
‘Banana’ turns the folk up to 11 at first, but also the melody has a surprising pop lean to it. Then we immediately take a turn, blasting in with a heavy riff and synth, sounding honestly awesome! More screams through the heavy verse help build it into a catchy pre and another arena-filling chorus. It’s catchy as anything and is immediately another firm highlight track! It’s the most ‘party’ song so far too, and the lyrics are typical Alestorm silliness. It’s a pretty simple song but I love it, and it reminds me more of Crystal Coconut, which is hardly a bad thing!
Single ‘Frozen Piss 2’ was the one song I’d heard before this review. It’s another heavy, silly, fun song and exactly what you’d expect from the band at this point. It’s probably the most varied musically too, with everything from horns to strings to an accordion to normal rock instruments, and plenty of singing and screaming on top of it all. It’s a little weird of a decision for it to not actually be a sequel as the ‘2’ would suggest, but there is no denying it’s still a good song! There’s also a great Asian female vocalist in the middle that I cannot seem to find be credited anywhere, but she was awesome and it fit the song perfectly! Yet another awesome song!
Songs like ‘The Storm’, ‘Mountains of the Deep’ and ‘Goblins Ahoy!’ are all more typcial folk metal songs with varying degrees of silliness. And shockingly it’s the silliest, the middle, that I think is my favourite. Having said that, the contrast of the heavier parts for the goblin in the latter was also great! It’s a surprisingly great cinematic song and not something I’ve heard Alestorm do much, which is honestly surprising. All are good songs, but ‘The Storm’ does feel more like an album track than the other two, insanely given that it’s the latest single!
Then, the closing track has plenty of pomp and epicness, being the perfect choice to end things on. Oh, and did I mention it’s a proggy 17 MINUTES?! Don’t let that put you off, though. I don’t throw this word around often, but this may be a masterpiece in the genre. It’s very proggy, feeling like multiple different songs while fitting together perfectly. From heaviness and plenty of screams and heaviness to THAT chorus that is gonna be stuck in my head for days, there’s plenty to love. There are also multiple uncredited guests throughout, but I recognised at least two as Patty Gurdy and Russell Allen. Both did amazingly, and goddamn do we need more from Russell these days! Also, some of the soloing on this particularly the sweep picking, is the cleanest I’ve heard since peak Synyster Gates. It’s also somehow the only song I feel like I can accept fading out as a closer as that chorus is so epic and it works so well. Yes, it’s long, but I wouldn’t be anle to cut any of it. If you check out anything from this album, make sure it’s this song. WOW.
Overall: This impressed me a lot; I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It’s not that I’m not a fan of the band or anything, but their last album felt kinda samey and bland. Meanwhile, there was a lot to love here, and there really isn’t a bad song on it! It’s won’t be for everyone, and was maybe a little too silly at times, but there is no denying the band are talented players and songwriters! If you are at all a fan of the band or the genres they explore, this is well worth checking out! It’s definitely up there as one of the best albums, in this writers opinion!
The Score: 8.5/10