About.com Rating
No matter how tempting it may be, I vow to you there will be no pirate cliche references in this review. Alestorm's brand of "pirate metal" found an appreciative audience with last year's Captain Morgan's Revenge, and their boisterous live shows garnered even more followers.
The Scottish band's sophomore effort Black Sails At Midnight shows surprising maturity. Songs about drinking and pillaging and maturity don't exactly go hand in hand, but it's on the musical side where Alestorm has grown.
The lyrics are as cheesy as ever.
Black Sails At Midnight is more diverse than Alestorm's debut. Rollicking folk metal mixes with thrashy guitars, accordians and atmospheric keyboards. "Leviathan," "Wolves Of The Sea" and a few other songs utilize horns and brass to add a more majestic vibe. The title track is loaded with intense guitars and really packs a punch.
Alestorm shows some versatility with the ballad "To The End Of Our Days." It works musically, but Christopher Bowes's pirate style vocals aren't really conducive to a ballad. His ragged singsong is more effective on the faster songs where the music distracts from his less than perfect pitch.
Black Sails At Midnight has its ebbs and flows (but not like the ocean, because that would be a pirate cliche), but it's another enjoyable album that fans of folk, viking and battle metal can appreciate.
(released June 2, 2009 on Napalm Records)