ALBUM REVIEW: Live In Tilburg – Alestorm
Aye the sea, she do be an unpredictable being, a treacherous beast, and a formidable lover. Calling you to reach out beneath the caress of her deadly waves, before she drowns you in her watery affection as you are cursed to spend the rest of eternity wandering the fishy landscape of the infamous Davy Jones’ Locker. The endless ocean may be a terrifying concept to a lot of people, however the jovial pirate crew of ALESTORM are here to give us that skip(per) in our step and a warped sense of warmth and safety from enough rum to get a pod of whales drunk. To enhance the experience of a life at sea that often dabbled in criminality, the possession of sunken lost booty, and the booty that resides within a humid brothel, the Scottish buccaneers offer us their latest release, Live In Tilburg.
Kicking off the hedonistic party is an electronic circus-themed introduction, conjuring images of a neon and UV splattered crew glowing sickly beneath the bright moonlight reflecting off of the ocean’s mirrory surface. In true swashbuckling fashion, an accordion keyboard melody from Elliot Vernon offers a tune for the 3,000 strong crew of Tilburg to sing along to in the opening shanty of Keelhauled. Tales of treachery and punishment are at large, but not before a zealous vocalist Christopher Bowes insists they stop for “a bottle of rum and a yo ho ho” before subjecting the traitor to walking the plank.
Peter Alcorn threatens to blow your ear drums as pedals hit kick drums in the same way an assault of cannon balls collide with splintering decks and crumbling crows nests in the suspenseful and patriotic metalcore tune Alestorm. If this is your first introduction to ALESTORM then the lines “Rum, beer, quests and mead, these are the things that a pirate needs.// Raise the flag and let’s set sail, under the sign of the Storm of Ale,” will tell you all you need to know as you join the voices of the crowd howling the lyrics back to the Captains’ upon deck.
Amidst the icy suicide mission of Magnetic North, the carefree excess of Mexico, and the treasure trolling quest of Over The Seas, Máté Bodor’s buoyant guitar twiddling and savage chord chugging personifies the contrast in the tranquillity of tropical blue shores, and the other side of the piece of eight in the menacingly savage white horses of death. Bodor’s Over the Seas guitar solo creates a mirage of normality in traditional heavy metal, for the moment forgetting that you’re listening to a heavy metal band that had made their mark writing about the brutality and often hilarity that dogs the legacy of privateering, as the return of Bowes’ Scottish accent pulls you back out of the ruse.
Explosive basslines from Gareth Murdock emanate from within the walls of The Sunk’n Norwegian tavern, hammering down like shrapnel as a result of recklessly spilt alcohol, foolishly discarded gunpowder, and a match. Perilous pillages plague the narrative of the high seas, as No Grave But The Sea documents the robbery, ransacking, and murderous thirst for unsuspecting trade ships travelling from faraway kingdoms, exposing both the rich and poor to the same salty grave.
A slow, intimidating riff leaks into Nancy The Tavern Wench, but the melancholic stench of fear from the possibility of ne’er returning again after this last night of freedom hangs thick in the air like a fog-cursed ship. The swan-song styled structure gets as close to an 80s rock ballad as pirate metal would allow, as the aura of brotherhood is palpable amongst the herd of scoundrels.
The historical accuracy of 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena would certainly make a statement as a piece of show and tell in your GCSE history lessons, along with a rendition of perhaps the most well known pirate shanty in the modern age, Drunken Sailor, a lá heavy metal. The more pop-orientated Hangover inevitably entices the mass of drunkards to raise their sloshing tankards towards the stormy skies in solidarity, no-doubt a tribute to the real captain of this motley crew, the giant blow-up rubber duck affectionately known as Rubber-Duckzilla. Bar ünd Imbiss swiftly follows but pales in comparison to the epic tale of Captain Morgan’s Revenge and Bowes’ orders of silence before commanding his crowd to shout “sausages.”
The show comes to a close with the gargantuan tunes of Shipwrecked, Drink, Wolves of the Sea, and the astronomically catchy anthem, Fucked With An Anchor. ALESTORM prove time and time again that heavy metal can be paired with almost anything, but the life of a pirate is one that it seemed destined to be bound to.
Rating: 9/10
Live In Tilburg is set for release on May 28th via Napalm Records.
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