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Album Reviews : Alestorm – No Grave But The Sea

By on May 28, 2017

For years Alestorm has graced the world with something they didn’t realise they needed – pirate metal. Now onto their fifth release titled ‘No Grave but the Sea’, Alestorm brings a mix of power metal, infused with catchy choruses and a multitude of instruments.

‘No Grave but the Sea’ may not spring too many surprises for long time fans of Alestorm, but a key difference spurs from keyboard player Elliot Vernon who provides growling vocals. This is most notably seen in tracks ‘To the End of the World’, and ‘Alestorm.’ The mix between Elliot and Christopher Bowes’ vocals adds an extra layer to the tracks, and creates a heavier sound. It works perfectly, and is definitely something this band is likely to adapt to future albums.

Alestorm continues their style of upbeat ‘drinking’ songs, with catchy party style choruses that will remain stuck in your head possibly until the end of time itself.

Lead singer ‘Christopher Bowes’ is the mastermind/crazy person to blame for the lyrics on this album, of which the highlight is ‘Fucked with an Anchor’. This song is absolutely ridiculous, but at the same time is hysterical, and will likely be a crowd favourite at every live gig in the next touring cycle.

Aside from the jokes, ‘No Grave but the Sea’ is a really exceptional effort from Alestorm. The guitar work continues to improve, and the addition of Máté Bodor is notable. The keyboard and guitars share the workload throughout the album, and definitely complement each other.

The album closes with ‘Treasure Island’, the longest song on the album that contains all the things we love about Alestorm. The keyboards get the song of to an epic start, but the guitar riffs and catchy choruses throughout dominate the song, before heading into a beautiful acoustic outro that finishes off the album in sublime style.

Whilst the tracks on this album might seem quite similar to the rest of Alestorm’s back catalogue, this album does exactly what it is meant to do. The songs range from being hilarious, to heavy, and even to upbeat sing-a-long ‘sea shanties.’ This album might throw a few surprises here and there, but overall it’s going to entertain you, and more importantly it’s going to make you want to get drunk and listen to it all over again.

Band: Alestorm
Album: No Grave But The Sea
Year: 2017
Genre: Pirate/Power Metal
Label:  Napalm Records / Nerve Gas
Origin: Scotland