Alestorm - Back Through Time review
| Band: | Alestorm |
| Album: | Back Through Time |
| Style: | Folk metal, Power metal |
| Release date: | June 2011 |
01. Back Through Time
02. Shipwrecked
03. The Sunk'n Norwegian
04. Midget Saw
05. Buckfast Powersmash
06. Scraping The Barrel
07. Rum
08. Swashbuckled
09. Rumpelkombo
10. Barrett's Privateers [Stan Rogers cover]
11. Death Throes Of The Terrorsquid [feat. Ken Sorceron]
12. I Am A Cider Drinker [The Wurzels cover] [limited edition bonus]
13. You Are A Pirate [LazyTown cover] [limited edition bonus]
It's 2011, and the last thing you're expecting to see is a crew of pirates hunting Viking ships. Well, that's what Back Through Time offers. One of the most drunken bands of the scene, Alestorm, is back with a killer album!
Since from the first song, the title track, the band puts more attention and application into their riffs, making them more original and powerful, comparing to their previous efforts. Back Through Time's beginning reminded me of DragonForce for the first seconds, then Bowes' rough voice guided me back some centuries ago, against northern gods and enemy drakkars.
This album has a large range of songs: from aggressive ("Shipwrecked", "Midget Saw") to alcohol and tavern dedicated ("The Sunk'n Norwegian", "Buckfast Powersmash", "Rum", "Barrett's Privateers", "I Am a Cider Drinker"), from nostalgic ("Scraping the Barrel") to just fun tracks ("Rumpelkombo" and "You are a Pirate"). Yet, the most unexpected track in the album is "Death Throes of the Terrorsquid", a nearly 8-minutes-long epic tale of the battle against Leviathan, in which the band travels, really successfully, in Ensiferum's and Dimmu Borgir's land, with harsh screams and a dark atmosphere.
Let's now talk a little about the lyrics: Alestorm has never composed anything poetic, and Back Through Time is no exception: lyrics are really simple and, sometimes, monotonous, but that's what makes their style so unique and beautiful. In the end, they admit it: when they have to compose an album, they just... scrape the barrel!
But there's one big low point in this album: the solos. They are really few and don't show a great technique, even if they all fit perfectly into the album's atmosphere. I sincerely preferred some solos from Captain Morgan's Revenge, their debut full-length.
To conclude, Alestorm will never become a legendary band, and Back Through Time has really little chances to become a power metal classic, but can offer a 47-minute-long solid, well-done, easy-listening and, above all, no doubt fun effort. And, in my opinion, that's what the crew wanted to do.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by R Lewis | 28.09.2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 3
Visited by: 69 users
| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8662  |
Alestorm is legendary - because they show how practically bad a band can, while it is still fucking fun listening to them 
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| R Lewis Posts: 935  |
Written by Ellrohir on 29.09.2012 at 18:05 You have summarized my whole review 
---- We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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| Sir Thrashalot Posts: 55  |
Though they're not the type of bands that will write albums for the ages, they are present time entertainers, and they do it so DAMN well. Their shows are amazing, everyone ends up drunk and having fun. Though if they can keep it up, adding up good concept albums and stories, they can become legendary adding good albums one after the other. No particular album will be recognized, but the summary of all their albums can become something precious, if that's what they're hoping to achieve.
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