Metal Impressions III: Van Canto's "Hero"

Metal Impressions III: Van Canto's “Hero”

Greetings Rider fans, this is The Nightmare Rider with you all once again! Today I am reviewing one of the bands that inspired me to do this series to begin with; Van Canto. Who are Van Canto? Well you're probably not going to believe this if you don't know already; but they are an A capella metal band.

Now before you run away in terror screaming about how un-metal they are as Happy Viking nearly did, it must be made clear that this actually works. Yes, somehow in the most unholy black pit of Satan's left testicle, these guys have actually made the whole concept of A capella metal work. I can hardly believe it myself! And they do it with all the style and thick heaviness as any other of the awesome German metal bands of recent times. And lets not forget the cheese, oh the beautiful beautiful cheese! Just like any good Power Metal band, Van Canto pack a metric ton of cheese into their music making it even more compacted win in an awesome can.

So without further adieu, lets go a ruminaduminadumina our way through Van Canto's “Hero”!

Track 1: Speed of Light

The song opens with a heavenly a capella hymn before mixing in the “dom doms” guitar hums that define this band so well! Thankfully they use an actual drummer rather than a beat boxer so it feels more authentically metal. The female vocalist who introduces us to the lines “I have walked about a million miles, Step by step into the haze. To notice it it took a while, That circles where the ways I made. “ gives a big sense of both adventure as they begin their journey, having traveled so far they can barely tell how far they have come! Both Sly and Inga Shcarf really give a powerful punch with their vocals, adding to the sense of grandeur that comes with a song about traveling at the speed of light. And if you were scratching your head at how they managed to get such depth of a metal sound through voices alone, then wait until you hear the solo of this song. Yes, there is a guy doing a guitar solo with his voice. And it sounds just like your typical wahwah guitar solos from bands like Gamma Ray or Hammerfall, how awesome is that?! This is a fantastic introduction to both the band and the concept, blasting through all boundaries ahead of them and letting nothing get in their way!

Track 2: Kings of Metal (Manowar Cover)

FUCK YES! I LOVE Manowar, so the rumanumanuma sounds almost exactly like the Manowar in all their cheesy glory. This song NEVER fails to bring a smile to my face and you can tell by both the ego filled power voice of Sly (fitting name for this song!) and the cheesy grin he has in the music video that these guys are loving every moment of it. Few bands can match the overwhelming cheese and egocentric glory of Manowar, but Van Canto is one of those that can. You could say that the a capella vocals make it even more silly, which is never a bad thing if you ask me! Even the solo just perfectly reflects everything that this band is and how Manowar are here to kick ass and play some heavy metal (and they are all out of ass). Posers beware, because when a band like Van Canto are in town, you'd better turn off your by the numbers pop crap or generic rap BS, because Manowar interrupt this broadcast to BLOW YOUR MIND! These are the kind of guys you just wanna sit down, rock out and have a beer with. Both Manowar and Van Canto have the spirit and energy to prove that you don't have to take yourselves at all seriously while playing awesome metal. It's all about having fun and, as the both the video shows and the tone of the song implies, not giving having a single fuck to be given that day! And remember; Some other bands play – MANOWAR KILL!

Track 3: Pathfinder

The rolling randadadan chanting sets up for a spectacular sword and sorcery adventure right at the beginning of this song. This is all about a mystical shamanistic Pathfinder, summoning the storms to fallow the call, leading straight to the core. What exactly is he fallowing and trying to find? It's not really mentioned. We get allot of cheese about how powerful the pathfinder is, and even a nice almost native American esc chant in place of the chrous. But we just don't really get informed as to what exactly they are flying or what they are trying to achieve. Despite this, I still get a nice clear image of the cheroke shaman summoning the spirits of the call to lead out his tribe. The whole song feels very tribe like in general, so it still works in that respect. Just a shame they didn't quite fallow power metal writing 101; If you are having a quest or leading the way to something, say what it is to begin with!

Track 4: Wishmaster (Nightwish Cover)

Another cover that shouldn't really work, but somehow it does, and becomes awesome because of it! The riddelydidely and ton-don-ton-don really fits the guitar style of Nightwish. Add to this, Inga's voice is really majestic and almost comes up to the level of Traja's operatic singing style! If you can get out of your head any misheard lyrics videos you may have seen for a moment, the mysticism and high fantasy quality of the humming of tolkine inspired lyrics gives a vivid image of the mage leaving behind his loved one to study with (what I imagine to be) elves, mastering the arcane magics. The song also goes to show how Van Canto can adapt their a capella vocals quite well to the different guitar styles of each song. They have the deeper steady style of Manowar, while they have the more twangy keyboard infused styles of Nightwish, both matching the emotional power and intended attitude of both bands as well. Nightwish has a more mythical, fantasy epic sound to them while Manowar has a more brutal 80s ego epic sound. Any band that can adapt themselves so well to both deserves recognition in my book, especially when they are matching the speed, twangyness and emotional power behind a Nightwish song. Now if only they had an orchestra to cover Ghost Love Score with.....

Track 5: The Bards Song (Blind Guardian Cover)

By the lost eye of Odin, it's as if this song was MADE to be covered by a band like Van Canto! The simple “bum dadada dum” fits a capella so well it's almost scary! You can really picture them all as a group of traveling bards gathering round a camp fire and singing their song to the women and children sitting around to listen. They actually do a better job, dare I say it, than Blind Guardian at whisking us away to another time to sing “Tales of a great man, who lived far from here”. As a matter of fact, the placing of this song on the album is almost perfect, because it starts out with “Now you all know, the bards and their songs”, which is so very true! All of the songs so far has given us a perfect window into what kind of band Van Canto is and how they do their music. They show us perfectly what's inspired them and they know exactly what goes into the very heart of every heavy metal song that they cover. They take us somewhere special with every song that they make, as the chorus suggest when it says “Tomorrow will take us away. Far from home, Noone will ever know our names. But the bards' songs will remain.” which is also true for many bands, including Blind Guardian. Even if we don't know their names, their music will live on to take us somewhere special. This is a legendary song created by Power Metal legends themselves, Blind Guardian, covered by the awesome black magic of Van Canto.

Track 6: The Quest for Roar

Now this is one of their best original songs. A brief soft hum of the melody quickly turns into a powerful a capella blast. Sly gives an amazing sense of standing on the hill, leading a band of powerful warriors on the quest for epic metal. It's as simple as that! I refer to their fantasy imagery as very sword and sorcery, why? Because it is largely about personal journeys and personal quests rather than huge epic other worldly battles. Now there isn't anything particularly wrong with this, it just defines their style quite nicely in my opinion. Some of their songs such as this one do lack a bit of overall depth, but it's nothing too serious to be a big hamper if you ask me. They keep their songs with a nice upbeat tone, they have clearly stated their goal and push forward to fight with what they desire most deep in their hearts; Epic metal! And really, who can blame them for having such a worthy cause? They love Heavy Metal just as much as Manowar or any other band! This is a simple and fun song, really showing what Van Canto are capable of when it comes to original material.

Track 7: Stormbringer (Deep Purple Cover)

Now this was a big surprise for me to see! I never expected them to cover Deep Purple, but by Odin it actually works! But their rumadum dumadum intro perfectly matches the melody and rhythm of the deep purple song. Sly's voice once again gives the song a truly epic feeling that fits the nature of this song perfectly. You can just picture these guys standing on top of a huge mountain range, doing a tribal dance and summoning the storm. You'd better not get in their way, as they can and will blow you away with the sheer might of an a capella storm. I am starting to see why Deep Purple are considered early precursors to Metal from this cover; There is such a heavy driving force to it that is the foundation of every heavy metal songs. Adding to all of this, once again, Stefan Schmidt doing a guitar solo with his voice almost makes you forget that there are no actual guitars used in this cover at all! This is a perfect song to see any metalhead through the harsh winter weather ahead of us, no matter what storms may come our way!

Track 8: Take to the Sky

You know what I said about Van Canto being more sword and sorcery than High fantasy? This song fits this well. Van Canto's original songs all seem to be about overcoming your personal limits and flying away to complete a quest of some sort. But this one in particular is fantastically motivational. Belief in yourself will empower you to mound to any task! I can really picture this band flying on the backs of Pegusi and Griffons, riding into battle and chanting their way into the chrous with “I take to the sky, I look back from high above. I am on target For something beyond.” Once again they fail to specify exactly what they are flying for, but at least it still gives a great sense of majesty, flying across the landscape below to continue on with their quest. So lets fallow them on into the next track!

Track 9: Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden Cover)

Now this is a cover song that just doesn't quite work in my opinion. It's not because I'm an Iron Maiden fanboy, but the original song was supposed to have an eerie and mysterious sound to it, with Bruce Dickinson's vocals a first giving a sense of calm and contentedness, but as the song progresses he grows more and more anxious and afraid, perfectly capturing how someone with a fear of the dark would react. The iconic lyrics “Have you ever been alone at night, thought you heard footsteps behind, turn around and noone's there. And as you quicken up your pace, you find it hard to look again, because you're sure that someone's there!” really reflects the anxiety of how you are sure that someone or something is catching up to you, but there is never really ever anyone there. Sly's voice doesn't really convey properly the same calmness that Bruce did, adding to the over use of the background a capella singers. It gives more depth and more sound than is actually needed at the start of the song. The rinidinidini and dooos fit for the main bulk of the song, but Inga's voice just cannot portray the same harshness or fear that Bruce Dickinson gives. She just doesn't sound afraid or anxious in the least! Now don't get me wrong, she is a good singer. I praised her quite rightly for her Wishmaster cover. But it just doesn't fit with a song like Fear of the Dark in my honest opinion. Also having her do the intro to the solo doesn't quite gel with Stefan's twangy voice when it comes to the solo it's self. It does work just after the solo and the solo it's self is very good. But it doesn't fit the balance or mood that the song was intended for, that's all. All this being said, this isn't a horrible cover by any stretch of the imagination. It's decent, just doesn't fit well with this particular shade of a capella. At the very least, it's still worthy of singing along to, so I give credit where credit is due.

Track 10: Hero

The final song of this album, fallowing quite closely the formula for Van Canto songs. Soft intro, before getting into the meat of a capella guitars, this time with a very primal chant of “Dum dum hero, dum dum hero”. But this song is less about heroic motivation, and actually a surprising change which instead sings about a warrior questioning if he should be considered a hero or not. I feel that the sound balance between the a capella singing and the vocals it's self is a bit off in this, since it's hard to make up exactly what Sly and Inga are saying. The lyrics themselves however are very well chose. They detail the fear and emotional reaction of the warrior as he can see an angel beckon him. It feels as though he is questioning, as the time of his death draws near, if he is worthy of rising up to heaven with the angel or not. In the end, even though they don't quite specify (again) what he has done, he does eventually accept that he is a hero with the outro chorus “Yeah, it is me they call hero. Yeah, it is me they await. Yeah, it is me they call hero, Heroes are there to change fate.” If it wasn't for screwing up the balance in this song, this would've been a nice emotional outro to finish off the album with. As it stands, it is the worst song on the album, but it was at least a decent effort with a small change of pace to see out the long roller coaster we've been on this album.

And with that, we conclude our look into the a capella German cheese fest that is Van Canto. Final thoughts; Why in the name of all that is the unholy chaos of the jammy universe was this so awesome?! Van Canto is a band that knows what they love and loves what they do. With one or two exceptions, they put their heart and soul into each song, understanding more about musical structure than I certainly can! With simple voices and a drummer they managed to capture the feel and the majesty of just about every metal song they touch while still coming out with their own unique blend of cheesy power metal. This album makes me grin every time I listen to it, and my jaw honestly hit the floor on multiple occasions when I heard covers of Wishmaster, The Bards song and Stormbringer. This is the kind of power and majesty that brutal crappy screamo bands like Attack Attack and Design the Skyline could only WISH they had! The spirit of metal is as present in these guys as it is with any of the traditional and power metal legends, so regardless of if they use guitars or a capella singers, they still manage to pull off amazing guitar solos and fill every line with such power and cheese that it's impossible to share the same fun and enjoyment that these guys put into every song. Of course they aren't perfect, nobody is! But the bottom line is, if metal is their business, their business is good! The gods of heavy metal have looked down upon Van Canto and they have seen that it is good.

Should you buy this album? Well ask yourself, do you like cheesy power metal? If so, then this is a MUST have for ANY power metal fan! If you like Manowar, Blind Guardian or Nightwish, then this is certainly for you. The album is quite recent so it shouldn't be hard to find at big retailers or online. Van Canto also have a new album that has just been released called “Break the Silence”, which features, for better or for worse, only one cover song. But I shall be sure to buy that and give you all my thoughts another day, for my Metal Impressions.

Until the next time, this is the Nightmare Rider, riding out!

Metal Impressions II: Iron Maiden's "Piece of Mind"

Metal Impressions II: Iron Maiden's “Piece of Mind”

Greetings rider fans, this is The Nightmare Rider here once again with my Metal impressions!

What can you say about Iron Maiden? No really, what can you say about them that hasn't already been said a million times over? They are probably one of the most recognized and well known metal bands of all time. Even most none metal fans know who they are! So why am I talking about them now?

As I said in the introduction to this series at the start of my first review, this series is about my emotional impressions of various metal albums. And Iron Maiden is probably my favorite bands for that very reason! They have such a wide range of material across their 30 year period together and convey so many lyrical themes that they always resonate with me and millions of Maiden fans all over the world! As such, it's likely that most people who are reading this review will already own all of the albums that I plan to review. But even for those that don't, I hope to offer my own personal perspective as to why I love this band and just why so many of their albums have gained this band the fame that they deserve.

Now I could start and go through all of their albums in chronological order like a complete retrospective...but I have a small confession to make. I haven't actually listened to the first two albums in full! Bruce Dickinson was the singer who drew me into the band and I HATE lineup changes, so for the longest time I ignored the first two albums and the Blaze Baily albums. Only now when looking up for the concert setlists that I heard the recorded content for their first two albums which introduced the world to the legends that are Iron Maiden!

But to get back on track, I am going to go in the order of the albums which I feel had the most impression on me as well as the order that I actually bought them in. So with that, I think the perfect place to start would be with the first album that I ever got by them; Piece of Mind.

Track 1: Where Eagles Dare

Right away we get introduced to the heavy and energetic riffs that Iron Maiden are famous for! Bruce Dickinson's air raid siren voice introduces us to the daring mission of the fight pilots, flying deep into enemy Territory to complete their mission despite the harsh weather closing in on them fast! As with all of Metal the guitar solo is the climax of the song, giving a vision in my head of the of the pilots using all their wits and skills to maneuver their planes through the near impossible conditions. Lyrics such as “They're closing in, the fortress near, it's standing high in the sky. The cable car's the only way in, it's nearly impossible to climb!” keep us on the edge of our seats and hammer home how difficult this mission is supposed to be. And yet it still keeps the riff steady while still being energetic, keeping up the tension as the song draws to a close with the lyrics “The Panicking cries, the roaring guns are echoing all around the valley. The mission complete, they make their escape away from the eagles nest”. The comparison to a bird of pray shows the real talent in the writing for this song, which gave me a fantastic introduction as to what their music to come would be like!

Track 2: Revelations

Once again the opening guitars grab my attention, as if we are flying down onto this fantasy landscape while Bruce does a fantastic job of putting a real sense of desperation into the opening hymn passage. After a couple of short guitar segments and pauses, the adventure begins as the pace picks up, grabbing my attention before slowing down to the more melodic main verse of the song. The lyrics to this song are incredibly poetic, with the lyrics of the song giving me almost a window into the minds of perhaps a man in dark age England, expressing his sorrow at how easy it is for those ignorant of sin to partake in activities that would almost certainly have them meet a brutal fate. Or at the very least, this is what comes to my mind. The whole song is a jumble of metaphors that, while playing off the pacing of the music very well, does get confusing as to what it's trying to convey if you think too hard like I do! But regardless of this flaw, this song changed my whole idea of what metal can be when I was 14 years old, which is something I hope for many other young fans who are just getting in to the world of metal.

Track 3: Flight of Icarus

A dramatic marching riff introduces us to a man of Greek mythology, determined to see his dream come true and fly on wings of wax and feathers! This album has a consistent quality of Bruce's voice giving power and drama to almost any song that he performs, while still blowing minds with guitar solos that would shape the sound of metal for decades to come. Most of you should know how the flight of Icarus story goes by now, but while it doesn't fallow the myth to the letter, you can easily forgive this as Bruce once again blows me away with his long held vocal notes on the word fly while another guitar solo leads us out into a metal scream and jam of instruments. This is Heavy Metal history right here folks!

Track 4: Die with your Boots On

This song is fast paced, heavy and gives me a brilliant vision of an army general who loves his job!Nobody knows when war will next time, or what impending disaster awaits us all. But as the chorus says “If you're gonna die, die with your boots on. If you're gonna try, well, just stick around. Gonna cry, just move along. If you're gonna die, you're gonna die!”. So if the end is near, may as well go down fighting and fight for what you believe in! Both solos both thunder through the song which no doubt blew minds in 1983, and blows minds still to this day.

Track 5: The Trooper

This is the song that become a legend and a fan favorite from this album. All about the charge of the light brigade, at 14 years old I had never heard such speed and intensity from any form of rock music before. The guitar riff has become totally iconic, portraying the utter chaos of the battle around but at same time taking us all along for the thrill ride. Bruce is just unmatched with his voice in giving such vivid imagery for this song, with famous lyrics like “The horse he sweats with fear we break to run, The mighty roar of the Russian guns. And as we race toward the human wall, The screams of pain as my comrades fall!”. It's hard to say very much about this song because there is so much that just speaks for it's self. Even when the soldier finally meets his end, the simple one word chorus seals the deal and makes this song an epic once and for all time!

Track 6: Still Life

This is one of my favorite songs on the album. After a short parody of the “Subliminal message” scare that went on during the early to mid 80s, we get this Erie guitar intro to a more soft singing Bruce, acting very puzzled at how nobody ells is seeing what he sees. The music quickly intensifies as this character slowly looses his mind as the voices get clearer, telling him exactly what they want him to do. Now, I'm a fan of horror fiction and this just spoke volumes to me. You feel like you are getting an exact window into the mind of this character and how can't help but look into the pool, separating himself from everyone ells who see him as simply going crazy. Finally, after the guitar solo, the madness reaches it's peak and the character in this song finally jumps into the pool, who I think is suggesting he is taking his wife down with him. After all, one line says “I've no doubt that you think I'm off my head. You don't say, but it's in your eyes instead”. Is he really insane? Or was there really some supernatural force beckoning him to the waters edge? This is left up to the listeners interpretation and makes it a unique change of pace for the album and one of the best.

Track 8: Quest for Fire

Holding back my natural urges to point out why Dinosaurs never lived with cave men, the steady riff of this song really gives the feeling of a primal quest for early man “To regain, the power of warmth and light”. The solo of this song isn't much to speak of compared to earlier songs, but it still adds to the trudging pace of this song. Not much more I can really say about this song other than it doesn't quite feel as epic as it may want to be.

Track 9: Sun and Steel

This is much more like it! Fallowing a similar rhythm style to Die with your Boots, it gives a fast paced tale of a young man who started down the path of the warrior early in his own life. Eventually he comes to meet his match, having battled through the elements for this glorious day. Much of what I can say about this song has already been said for “Die with your Boots on”. However this is a song more about personal glory than the larger deities of a soldier. So in that respect this song is a bit samey to the others, but it still has a splendid energy to it

Track 10: To Tame a Land

The final and longest track on the album, this a song where the softer opening actually does some good. Considering that the song is based on the “Dune” novels, I get a simple imagery of a desolate, barren landscape. This song, much like Sun and Steel before it, is certainly simpler in it's lyrics than something like Revelations. The first half of the song is almost entirely build up of this character, the man destined to be King of the land who will thwart evil to reclaim this right again. But after the 4 minute mark, the solo doesn't quite carry the weight of it's set up. Without any fallow up lyrics, it doesn't conclude any sort of story or suggest where he is going to go from here. At least with Revelations and Still Life it felt like the song had an end and not just trail off.

And so this concludes my review for Iron Maiden's “Piece of Mind” album. Final thoughts; This is a strange thing for me. It not only holds allot of nostalgia for being my first Iron Maiden album, and the overall emotional impact of many of the songs is a sense of involvement, amazement and excitement from a band that drew me in with how vivid their song writing is. But when I try to analyze it from a critical standpoint, it isn't really the best. Some of the songs feel samey to one another and a couple of others just don't quite pack enough of an emotional impact that songs before it do.

But for all my critical complaining I've done, should you buy this album? Most certainly YES! This was a more poetic album for Maiden who were still in their early years at this point. It defined Heavy Metal for years to come and gave us a song that even many none metal fans know and love, The Trooper! Considering it's age and it's fame, this is not a hard album to find. Here in the UK, most HMV media stores I know of have a 2 for £10 deal on Iron Maiden albums, so you could pick this up for essentially a fiver. But for those outside the UK, you should have no trouble finding it at any big media store or anywhere online, such as Amazon. If you want to own a piece of Metal history and own some of Maiden's greatest hits with a couple of under appreciated gems in there, then this is defiantly for you!

This has been a surprisingly difficult album to review once I try and sit down and analyze it. Hopefully, the next Iron Maiden album I review won't be such a pain. When we next meet for more Maiden, we will delve into my favorite album of all time, POWERSLAVE! Until next time, this is the Nightmare Rider, riding out!

Metal Impressions I: Alestorm's "Back Through Time"

Metal Impressions: Alestorm's “Back Through Time”

Greetings rider fans, this is the Nightmare Rider with something a little new. As many of you may or may not know, I LOVE Heavy metal music! I listen to it every day for hours on end and it's a huge part of my life. I always expressed my love for various albums in many ways, but biggest part that I fall down on is WHY I like it. I have almost zero knowledge of musical jargon. I could tell you what the instruments are and the difference between vocals, drums and guitar, but I can barely even describe how a riff is structured, let alone tell you about different time signatures and note changes.

So now I've decided to take a different approach. Instead of reviewing the technical aspects, I will talk about how I feel about the music from a more emotional perspective. How the vocals convey the themes of the song and what pictures I see in my mind as the song progresses. This is what I love about Heavy Metal the most; It's a varied genre. You have multiple sub-genres and a myriad themes that fit into all manner of styles, all with varying intensity and emotions to convey. So I hope to share with you all my journey through Metal albums old and new to find which albums stick with me the most!

Now with out further adieu, lets get right down to the first band; Alestorm. What can you say about Alestorm? The over the top folk Power metal band who sing all about Pirates. Swashbuckling, Ale chugging, loot plundering Scottish Pirates! Ridiculous, adventurous, drunk and all round cheesy yet epic METAL. And as anyone who knows me will testify too, I LOVE cheesy Power Metal! Gamma Ray, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, Manowar, Rhapsody of Fire, I love them all! Much like a severely under-rated internet reviewer, Happy Viking (reviews up now on reviewtopia, /shameless plug), I discovered this band due to two songs; Wenches and Mead, and Leviathan. The use of the keytar sucked me in before blasting me with an epic riff while they sing about drinking with prostitutes or battling to the death against a legendary monster from the ocean depths. Needless to say, this band quickly got my hooked! Dare I say it, CAPTAIN hooked? (Ahahahaha, yes, I know that was awful).

So naturally, when I went to see them live with one of the most awesome bands in existence, Sabaton, they announced that they were to play a song from their upcoming third album. Needless to say, I was HYPED! I waited patiently for months until finally, my copy had arrived! This is the first time I had pre-ordered a special edition album. It wasn't for the pendant and it wasn't for the poster. There is a bigger reason I got the special edition box set for this album, which I will go into detail later on in this review.

But for now, enough chewing the outer crust, lets get to the real meat and potatoes in this pie of a review (I'm going to be making allot of these analogies aren't I?), as I go track by track through Alestorm's latest Pirate Adventure, “Back Through Time”!

Track 1: “Back Through Time”

We open to the sound of stormy seas with a pirate shouting “Captain, there be Vikings of the Starboard bow! GET THEM!” and with another blast of the cannons, we are off! Straight away we are blasted to a mighty flurry of guitars, as the familiar vocals of Christopher Bowes, giving the tale of his pirate crew coming across a strange device, opening a portal to the time of vikings. And in true Alestorm fashion, their ragtag crew of Pirates blast and slice their way through the vikings, all the while singing about how the sheer might of their own physical powers hold the upper hand against the faith of the viking gods. But this is no religious commentary, no, Alestorm are much to silly for that. This is an epic opener about Pirates dominating vikings, as they say at the end of each chorus, “For infamy and plunder we shall ride!”. Kicking off as they do with a massive blast before getting into the swing of things, this really gets you in the mood of whats to come. The unrelenting ego of Pirate nonsense! And if you ask me, I wouldn't have it any other way. If a song can bring a smile to my face within the first 10 seconds, it's good enough for me!

Track 2: Shipwrecked

The opener of this song proves that Alestorm are getting heavier with each album. Like with many Alestorm songs, the keytar just makes you want to get up and dance an awesome jig to their special blend of Korpikaani and Running Wild. The lyrics convey an optimistic young pirate joining his first crew. You can tell by the lyrics “With a bottle of Rum, in my hand, I dreamed of wealth and foreign lands!” that this is a Pirate with big dreams ahead of him. What could possibly go wrong? The chorus conveys exactly that! With an oddly Joyful “Hey! You're Banjaxed! Hey! You're Screwed, and Death is coming for you.” and the later lyrics of “Get drunk or die!”, you can tell that when the situation is dire, there is only one thing left to do! And that is get pissed out of your head. The tone certainly darkens as Bowes sings about how the ship strikes a hidden reef and sinks, but the way the keytars keep chirping away and the upbeat guitars ensure that the song is clear and set as goofy. And that really is the magic of Alestorm; Making a fun little single about one of the common tropes of Pirate fiction while keeping the atmosphere lighthearted and just plain fun.

Track 3: The Sunk'n Norwegian

Considering this is a song about a particular favored Tavern, I wouldn't see this song as being out of place playing just as you enter one! This is like a happy version of Nancy the Tavern Wench, lyrical theme wise. Bowes sings about how “The Landlord's a bastard, the barmaid's a whore, but give them no shit or you're straight out the door.” and exactly what kind of scallywags you can find in a place like this. Alestorm never fail to convay their love of Alchahol, and this is really a song you could just see yourself swinging back and fourth while holding up a pint with your mates at any of your favorite pubs. As the chorus “One more drink, at the Sunk'n Norwegian, one more Drink, before we have to die” conveys, even if this crew of mighty pirates should meet their end, it's all worth it if they can at least have one last mug of booze at a place they would see fit to call home. Rather than a place to drown your sorrows, this is a place to have a good time, no matter what shit life will throw at you!

Track 4: Midget Saw

This song....just wow. This is Alestorm at their sliest. A catchy riff, almost nursery rhyme esq singing rythem but with added brutal! What is this song about? It's about a Midget who kills a monkey and gets his legs sawed off......Do I really need to say any more than this? It's grotesque, it's ridiculous, but by Davy Jones' locker is it creative! This is just why I love Alestorm. They can take the must brutal and gory of pirate style corporal punishment and just make it ridiculous to the point of wanting to laugh your ass off! If you haven't figured it out by now, if you are taking Alestorm's lyrics seriously, you're doing it wrong! Short, sharp and brutal, I think the only thing left to say is to paraphrase Happy Viking “I'm buying this just to tell people 'Listen to Midget Saw!'”.

Track 5: Buckfast Powersmash

Did I mention that Alestorm love their alcohol yet? This song dives right into the rough and intense guitar riff before adding an equally quick keytar entry. When you've run out of Alchahol in Scotland, what do you do? Sail to England and find the most powerful concoction you can find! As Bowes delightfully recites, “I'm not sure what's in it, except for Caffeine, despite having drunk it, since I was a teen.” proving that it doesn't matter what goes into your drink, as long as it gets you stone faced drunk in the end, it's all good! Really, the whole setup of this song conveys the effect that this kind of drink would have on a person. Gulp it down and it hits you like a freight train, blasting you with the sheer force of “what the hell is this awesome thing?” before slowing down to a more even pace, leaving you dazed, smashed and totally loving every second of it! Kind of like Alestorm's music as a whole, don't you think?

Track 6: Scraping the Barrel

This is, in my opinion, one of the best songs on the album. Why? Because it's self referential humor! Alestorm are gimmicky band and many have said that one day, they're going to run out of songs to write. So what do they do? The chorus once again says this perfectly! “There are no more tales to be told, no more stories from battles of old. Now it seems our journey has come to an end, we are scraping the barrel my friend!” This song is the Ballad of the album, similar in pace to Nancy the Tavern Wench. But this song is made special with just how blunt and brutally honest Alestorm are about writing their music. I mentioned before that they sound like Korpikaani crossed with Running Wild. Does this make them unoriginal? This again speaks volumes for all of the band's material, in that it could so easily be cliche and uninspired, but the much like a Buckfast Powersmash, even if you have no idea what has gone into the blend (as I didn't before buying this album) you can say that this is a blend that fits perfectly! And really, Alestorm know how to write a song to be either silly or epic, so it is not just Pirate Metal, it is True SCOTTISH Pirate Metal! Running Wild may have pioneered the Pirate Metal concept and Swashbuckle may take the brutality and intensity to a whole new level, but Alestorm sit comfortably as a blend of their own. And if you ask me, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Track 7: Rum

This is the song that they played live in Manchester back in October of Last Year. In fact, I think on the 20th it will be exactly a year since I saw them. So you could consider this review an anniversary special for that concert! But anyway, back to the song. Alestorm love Rum. They go “Questing the oceans and questing the seas, searching for ultimate booze”. Rum is a fabled drink of all Pirates that gets them the most drunk and is the fuel for any epic Pirate adventure. As the pre-chorus says “Rum is the Power, Rum is the Key, Rum is the drink that will set us free!”. Need I say more?

Track 8: Swashbuckled

The Jig starts, children gather round, and Christopher Bowes is here to tell his tale of the ghastly end of three epic pirates. And indeed it is a grisly fate for all three. As such, despite what will befall these unique characters, they will all be Pirates till the end and continue to do what they do until the end of time! Here's hoping that this will be the same attitude for the band as a whole. One thing I have to ask though; What in Davy Jone's name do they mean by “Mayhaps you'll hear his deadly cry, c'mon son, buy a Honda!. At first I thought I had heard that wrong, but nope, those are the correct lyrics. Since when did Pirates promote a brand of cars? Oh well, I'm talking out of my arse half the time anyway, so I'll just accept I don't have a clue what it means.

Track 9: Rumpelkombo

1 word, three seconds of music, one big “Where the fuck did that come from”?

Track 10: Barrett's Privateers (Stan Rogers Cover)

Much like with “Wolves of the Sea” cover from their Laviathan EP, I have no idea who Stan Rogers is. For those who won't know, a Privateer was basically a Pirate hired by the government and told “Do what you want, just don't loot our ships. K Thanks”. This is the most folky song of the album, telling the tale of the last of a Captain's Privateers promised of gold, only to meet much action from the Americans across the waves. Not much really I can say about this song, the chorus is fairly catchy and it is certainly fitting of Alestorm's themes for Pirate legends. But really with this being the least silly song on the album, it didn't leave much of an impression to speak of. The same cannot be said however for...

Track 11: Death Thrones of the Terror Squid

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! “Leviathan returns to devour the world”! And It's up to Bowes and his mighty crew to face the monster once more! The build for this song is just amazing, much like the song it's fallowing up from, Leviathan, stating how much of a monstrous creature this beast really is. The chorus announces “Deathsworn, Oathbound, on a quest for vengeful slaughter, we sail to the halls of doom with a black flag raised to the sky!”. This is it, the Pirates have boasted all about their powers, stating “We've defeated Vikings, and Ninja's we have slain. The terrorsquid won't escape again!” (I LOVE that little reference there to the pop culture Pirates vs. Ninjas debate. I think you can guess who's side I'm on!). So there we have it! The stage is set, there's no turning back, it's time to nut up or shut up and take down Leviathan once and for all! “Poseidon's realm has fallen silent, THE BEAST HAS AWAKENED!” In a very Black Metal inspired section which is PERFECT for such an epic battle, we get a harsh vocal singer to convey just how epic this fight will be! This monstrous beast is even more deadly than before, but the pirates venture through undeterred! You really feel the tension as this song progresses, which gives me a PERFECT vision of the pirate ship sailing into a whirlpool, thunder crashing all around and their cannons blasting into the side of the beast, finishing it off with a final fatal blow with a harpoon. This epic comes in at nearly 8 minutes, the longest ever for an Alestorm song, but you can tell that everything is leading up to this point. In a display of metal skill they have never shown before, they know just how to use the keytars to get you in the mood for the adventure to start, then shred the hell out of their guitars for the battle it's self. Words can barely convey just how awesome this song is and it becomes a fitting conclusion for the many tales that run through this album.

That is, if you had bought the normal version. Now we get to the reason why I bought the special edition version of this album. I just had to have the bonus songs!

Track 12: I am a Cider Drinker

Now this is a folk song that fits Alestorm! They turn something blissful and uniquely rural and just make it awesome. They've done a hard work on the farm, so it's time to head to the pub and have fun! As I said before for The Sunk'n Norwegian, the chorus just makes you want to grab a few friends and dance a jig while holding a large pint if cider in your hand. This whole experience is just about having simple fun! Even when things go totally wrong and your plans for sexy time end up just falling into the duck pond, it's something we can all laugh about at the end of the day.

Track 13: You are a Pirate!

Alestorm covering Lazy Town's “You are a Pirate”. I swear everything Alestorm touches turns to gold! When I heard about this song being covered, my erection burst higher than the thought of a Pirate fighting his way up from hell with a mug full of Ale (OK, last of the Happy Viking references for this review, I promise)! This song has Alestorm's silliness written all over it and is worth the price of the album ALONE. I'm serious, I don't think they could have made this cover any better than they already do.

So this concludes my review for Alestorm's latest album “Back Through Time”. So what are my final thoughts? What I like about Alestorm, is that with each album they are building and expanding what they did before. Black Sails at Midnight was heavier and contained more fantasy elements than Captain Morgans revenge. This goes one step further by turning the silliness meter up to 11. This album has everything from battles with Vikings, Sawing off the legs of a midgets, bizzar alcoholic concoctions and battles with sea monsters! Adding to that the sheer “OMG YES!” factor of the bonus songs, this album is a real treat to listen to if you want some cheesy pirate metal fun. Granted, some of the songs can come off as a bit repetitive and many are variations on the same theme. But as Alestorm have said themselves “And when the time comes to write album four, we'll scrape the barrel once more!”. If scraping the barrel comes up with this kind of quality, then I can't wait to see what they come up with. Final Verdict; Buy this special edition! If you are a fan of Alestorm or cheesy Power metal in general, there is no reason not to get this album.

This is the Nightmare Rider, riding out!