Load your cannons and prep the gunpowder, we’re getting weird! For this episode, we recruited our humorous childhood pal and first mate “Dilly” to join us on an outlandish voyage. You may remember him if you listened to our Amon Amarth episode a year back.
This time we lay down our Viking helmets and adorn our pirate hats with Alestorm. Much like the last episode with the Dilster, we nerd out hard on all topics relating to the album’s obvious themes. Another aspect similar to the Amon Amarth episode is Ryan’s lack of experience with the band as he endures Dillon and I speak. Having listened to the band since Captain Morgan’s Revenge (2008), we tell a handful of stories and call back to many tracks in their discography.
Despite not being huge on the power metal scene, we find much love for the goofy antics and folk instruments Alestorm throws in the mix. Like a blunderbuss full of miscellaneous items, Curse of the Crystal Coconut (2020) is full of interesting textures: accordion synth-filled dance beats, hurdy gurdys, cannon shots, and a rap track? There’s also even a chiptune version of the album. Walk the plank, grab some rum, and prepare your earholes for a scurvy filled episode!
Alestorm set sail unto the world from Perth, Scotland in the year of 2004 as Battleheart. The power metal lads changed the name to Alestorm in 2006 after the success of a pirate-themed track. They quickly found success as a pirate-themed band by joining Napalm Records in 2007, followed by the release of Captain Morgan’s Revenge (still their most solid album to date in my honest opinion). Over the last decade, they have released a handful of albums and lapped around the world. I myself have seen them twice on tour and find them to be one of the most entertaining metal acts to see live. They deliver a show of dorky onstage antics such as rum shots and the entire crowd singing tracks. This band is all about having a jolly roger of a time. Yar har I got a wooden leg, wooden leg!