Written By: Noam Asulin
Release date - 24/6/2022
Label - Naplam records
Sharpen your swords, open a bottle of rum, and put on your wooden leg, because we're going to talk about pirates. grrrr...
This time, the review is of the new and seventh album by the Scottish pirate band "Alestorm", named "Seventh Rum Of A Seventh Rum", and as you can see this is a paraphrase of the legendary seventh album of "Iron Maiden" - "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" from 1988
The Scottish band "Alestorm" has five members: Christopher Bowes on vocals and keyboards, Gareth Murdock on bass guitar and background vocals, Peter Alcorn on drums, and Elliot Vernon on keyboards and vocals, and Máté Bodor on guitar and background vocals.
The band was formed in 2004 and was called "Battleheart", until 2007 when it changed its name to "Alestorm". that year, the band signed a record deal with "Naplam records" and released their debut album "Captain Morgan's Revenge" and have since released six more albums, including the reviewed album.
The band is defined as "Pirate Metal" because the theme of the songs revolves around the theme of pirates. Those of you who know the band knows that its members like to laugh and give quite angular performances. The show at Reading 3 on July 5, 2022, has already sold out.
The new album is a triple album. The first record includes 11 tracks, while the second record includes the same tracks in an acoustic version and the third record also includes the same songs, please note, in the dog version. Yes, instead of the lyrics you hear the barking of dogs. We already said this band like to laugh?
The review will refer to the album in the regular version.
The first song "Magellan's Expedition" does not waste time and already makes you bounce. Alestorm's songs always give a sense of a "party" and fun and are characterized by instruments that are common in this genre like the accordion. Although the band loves to fool around, it also maintains professionalism and a polished and high-quality sound. Christopher, the lead singer not only sings about pirates but also sounds like a pirate. And tries to emphasize this in every song, both by using "rrrrr…" and in his accent.
The album continues in the same direction, with the fourth track being called "P. A. R. T. Y", so if you did not understand what's the band members' aim and purpose, this song will definitely not leave any doubt.
The sixth track "Magyarország" is especially interesting because the band members sing in Hungarian during the chorus. The song itself talks about Budapest. Although it did not surprise me personally (and I guess everyone who knows the band), I still keep my mouth open every time some of the members are so beautifully changing languages on the band's albums, and more on that later.
As on the previous album "Curse of the Crystal Coconut", on this album to the band collaborates with some of their favorite artists, such as Patty Gurdy who plays hurdy-gurdy (a traditional instrument that produces sound by manual rotation of Manuela and includes strings like on guitar) and Ally Storch on violin.
The ninth track "Return to Tortuga" is a slightly different version of the song "Tortuga" from the band's previous album. The latest track "Wooden Leg Part III" is also a slightly different version of the song from the previous album "Wooden Leg Part II". In addition to this song they also sing in Spanish and Japanese (languages, remember?)
In conclusion, this is a super fun album to listen to. Quite a few songs have contagious solos that make me swing my imaginary Air Guitar. You can not miss the talent and fun of the band members to create together. Still, there were two little things I didn't like so much. I was happy to get new songs instead of two different versions of two songs from the previous album and still, these are different versions enough to interest me. Plus, I think the third record called "Dog Version" is redundant. It's a nice and funny gimmick for one song but not beyond, certainly not for all the songs on the album.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer