ALESTORM

Release Year: 2020
Artist Origin: SCO
Style: loud folk pirate heavy metal

although Alestorm remain faithful to pirate metal formula, the madcap crew are far from reluctant to spice things up on sixth longplay with increasingly absurd ideas and playful experimentation, ranging from Tortuga, infused with elements of rap, nu metal, and pop, to the epic eight-minute Wooden Leg! Part 2, where Christopher deliberately expands what was once a simple joke into something far more ambitious, incorporating orchestral arrangements and multilingual vocal passages; alongside these sit Fannybaws, steeped in outlandish pirate folklore, and Pirate's Scorn, an unexpected interpretation of the Donkey Kong video game universe that ultimately inspired album's title, while holiday-like atmosphere surrounding recording sessions at a studio in Thailand seems to have further encouraged their penchant for seemingly frivolous content, beneath which lies meticulously crafted musicianship, allowing familiar pirate metal direction acquire fresh colours and unexpected twists; limited Austrian hardcover digibook double disc edition with a 16th century version of the album on second CD, which is in fact just another joke, as all songs have been reworked into humorous interpretations evoking the aesthetic of eight-bit retro video games