‘...make that bastard walk the plank with a bottle of rum and a yo ho ho...’ - bloody hilarious, fuckin Pirates of the Caribbean meets power metal from hell! I mean, does the vocalist have a goddamn parrot on his shoulder cos they’ve got accordions and fiddles as he sings ‘yarrr me hearties!’ on ‘Keelhauled’ (what else). In Luca Turelli’s worst nightmare, Rhapsody would be buccaneers playing Treasure Island in Las Vegas! But Alestorm are scallywags indeed, and they pack balls a plenty giving it the broadside on ‘Leviathan’ while slowing it down with a heave ho to almost epic levels (complete with 60s Animals keyboards) on ‘To The End Of Our Days’. Deep high octane riffing, galloping double bass and rough seadog vocals is the jolly roger of Alestorm whether it’s on ‘Pirate Song’ or the final grand sing along (complete with drunken chorus and Caribbean steel drums!) to ‘Wolves Of The Sea’. We’ve seen it all before with Helloween, Tankard and Onkel Tom but these loveable rogues are a barrel of laughs giving it a good knees up - and yarrr, they might just steal yer show!

-Shan Siva