ALESTORM — Sunset on the Golden Age (review)

ALESTORM — Sunset on the Golden Age album cover

Album · 2014 · Folk Metal

4/5 · 2014-08-11
adg211288

Sunset on the Golden Age (2014) is the fourth full-length album by Scottish pirates Alestorm. For this album the band have extended their line-up to a five piece with the addition of Elliot Vernon (Windrider) on keyboards. Previously that role was held by vocalist Christopher Bowes. The documentation that accompanies my promo copy of the album is unclear if Bowes plays any keyboards on the album or sticks exclusively to vocals now but I presume he does as that was the situation on their Live at the End of the World (2013) release.

Alestorm are well known as one of those bands who aren't meant to be taken 100% serious. They're comedic, gimmicky and a bit bonkers too. That's exactly why they're such a great band. But also one that I had to wonder about the longevity of, back when they released their first album Captain Morgan's Revenge (2008). Just how many songs about pirates and drinking can you write and still do what they do so well? This was a subject that they themselves successfully parodied on their previous album Back Through Time (2011) on the song Scraping the Barrel. And here we are with their fourth voyage Sunset on the Golden Age, an album that brings more drunken pirates and eyebrow raising ideas, not least the decision to cover the song Hangover which was originally by Taio Cruz, complete with Christopher Bowes doing a rap section in that distinctive pirate voice of his. If you're like me and don't stay in touch with mainstream music you may not know who Taio Cruz is...he seems to be some sort of dance/pop/r'n'b artist...not the most obviously compatible artist for a folk/power metal band to cover. But it's Alestorm so that may be why it not only works but ends up being an album highlight.

I think that Sunset on the Golden Age contains two of the funniest songs that Alestorm have ever written. The first of these is the lead promo track Drink. I love the way Christopher Bowes throws in references to the band's older songs like he's retelling the tales of the band's various misadventures on their quest for booze. The chorus is pretty addictive too. I can easily see this one becoming an essential staple of the band's live show for as long as they keep making music, which if Sunset on the Golden Age is anything to go by isn't something they should be stopping any time soon. The other song I want to mention here is Wooden Leg!. At first this one seemed a bit too repetitive but as I took in the story like lyrics I began to appreciate it a whole lot more. Another song I can imagine crowds going absolutely nuts to in the live environment.

I think that Back Through Time started to show a more mature side to Alestorm though in terms of their compositional skills. I think the reason that they've been able to keep going as long as they have is that their music is not as throwaway as one might initially expect. At their core the band usually combines folk metal and power metal ideas but they also have plenty of symphonic elements and even some thrash metal bits as well. But the different elements aren't so important here it's more what they do with them and the album's title track is easily the most adventurous piece that the band has written so far. An all too brief keyboard lead was even downright progressive. Unfortunately at nearly eleven and a half minutes it's just a bit too long so the band doesn't quite pull off what they seem to have been going for. The same is true of the album's other longer track 1741 (The Battle of Cartagena). Death Throes of the Terrorsquid from Back Through Time will serve as the standard for longer songs that they have to live up to now and neither of these is as strong as that one. But the point is they do give more musically than you might expect, even if the songs on Sunset on the Golden Age don't have as high a consistency as either Back Through Time or Captain Morgan's Revenge.

Sticking to the shorter humorous songs is clearly Alestorm's strength on Sunset on the Golden Age and as I've stated, they've made some of their best and funniest songs on this one. Likewise they maintain a great energy with their music and have some great folk melodies in there too. There may come a day when Alestorm release something that sounds stale and uninspired but despite the title of the album I don't think the band's golden age is anywhere near over yet. This one is well worth a plunder. 4 Stars.

83/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/alestorm-sunset-on-the-golden-age-t3682.html)