Napalm/Sound Pollution
Scottish pirates ALESTORM continues to mix folk music with power metal on their third full-length album. Fiddle and hey-hey sits nicely and the last time I saw them they stood up well against headliners SABATON. The band is intact; Christopher Bowes, vocals/keys, Dani Evans, guitar, Gareth Murdoch, bass, and Peter Alcorn, drums.
The title track opens with a musical battle scene. The ole swift time travel (“Back Through Time”) works for their present time friendly metal. And that is done without fending off anyone who´s into older metal. No matter how drunk you are you can sing along, so I believe there will be spots on German festivals. “Shipwrecked” is the same attack and pace song, although heavier. But the best refrains are probably “Rum”, “Swashbuckled” and “The Sunk´n Norwegian”. Exactly the kind of material I want from ALESTORM. Mid-tempo songs with pride, like “Scraping the Barrel” (in which RUNNING WILD is mentioned!) and “Barrett´s Privateers” are also positive factors. The same actually goes for the unexpected black metal-inspired “Death Throes of the Terrorsquid”. On occasion ALESTORM are a mess of clichés and nonsense. But there is absolutely no cause for alarm yet, they prove their value again – without being a total success.
Track List
Back Through Time
Shipwrecked
The Sunk´n Norwegian
Midget Saw
Buckfast Powersmash
Scraping the Barrel
Rum
Swashbuckled
Rumpelkombo
Barrett´s Privateers
Death Throes of the Terrorsquid
www.napalmrecords.com www.myspace.com/alestorm
