The very next band to surface and attempt to replicate, or even improve upon, what Running Wild had done in the eighties and nineties were from, of all places, Canada. They only ended up recording the one album, released in 2006, and so I guess it would be seen as a collector's item of Pirate Metal. It's certainly not available through the usual channels, and I had to turn to YouTube to get it. Or, to put it in more piratical language,
'tweren't nowhere on the blasted horizon, though we searched from sea to sea, in every cove and on every island from here to the Barbary Coast! And then, in a strange inlet off a cursed isle where no man dares walk, and of which sailors whisper in hushed tones of terror in every tavern from here to Port Royal, there! There we found it, me hearties, and me heart were gladdened by the very sight! Yeah, I'll stop now.
But suffice to say, as the immediate successors to Running Wild, Verbal Deception hold the dubious distinction of being not only the only Canadian Pirate Metal band, but alone with a mere two from south of their border make up the only three on the whole continent of North America who dangled their toes into the choppy seas of this most specialised of metal. Perhaps that in itself tells you something. Also, the fact that Verbal Deception (the second band I've come across who have the unfortunate abbreviation VD!) never had another album may speak volumes as to how they were received at the time. It's not that they didn't have another Pirate Metal album: they had none at all. This was their one and only recording, which again I guess adds to what makes it so rare and possibly collectible.
Aurum Aetus Piraticus --- Verbal Deception --- 2006 (Scarab Metal)
Okay, so without even listening to a song I'm encouraged by “piratey” track names like “Pieces of eight”, “Under the black flag”, “Jewels of the dead” and “Pirate attack”, which actually kicks off the album. So, do the songs themselves live up to their titles? Well there's a good start, with the sounds you'd expect to hear at the docks, seagulls screeching overhead, wind and the sound of waves, and then drifting over the air the sound of an accordion, a trusted instrument of the seafarer. Then guitars kick in and the percussion punches through, but you can still hear the accordion, which I guess is made on a synth by Walt Fleming, as no squeezebox is credited. Oddly, the vocalist, one Kresho Klarich, uses a deep, throaty vocal rather like death metal vocalists use, but you can hear him okay. So opener “Pirate attack” delivers pretty much what it promises, even if the style is slightly different to what I've so far experienced with Running Wild.
Now, as to the title of the album, well it seems to be made up of some latin and some made-up latin or dog latin. Aurum is gold and obviously piraticus is made up, but I can't find anything about aetus; perhaps they're referring to pieces of eight? Anyway, “Jewels of the dead” is a heavier, more death metal sort of song, and doesn't have too much of the pirate in it, rather like Running Wild's “Diamonds of the black chest”. while “Halls of illusion” has more of a fantasy/mythology feel to it, again nothing really piratey about this. In melody it does however reference the pirate tropes, with a good accordion melody swirling about. It's hard though to reconcile that dark death metal snarl with the clearer, almost happier voice of Rolf Kasparek.
You might think a song called “Northern shores” would give you hope, but no: it's all about the Vikings. And while there's nothing wrong with that, the Norsemen were not pirates, and only used their ships as transport. They didn't start robbing, raping and killing until they had actually landed on shore, so no pirate link there I'm afraid. It is a great track, now to be fair: one of the best on the album so far, with a lot of progressive metal influences, but just has nothing for the pirate lover. One for four so far, though we must assume “Pieces of eight”, though it's an instrumental, to be intended as a pirate song, therefore that's two of five. Still not a great ratio is it? “The scarab”, though only two minutes or so long, does contain the lines
”Here I stand, rum in hand/ Seaborn scarab” so, you know, maybe? It has a nice, excited rush to it, rolling along well, and surely “High seas” can only be a pirate song?
Yep: galleons, treasure, oceans ... this has the lot. Still, it's taken us six tracks to get here, and the album only has eleven, so we're more than halfway through before we get to what could reasonably be described as the second proper pirate song. Nice Maidenesque opening, sort of eastern tinge to it, then a sort of acoustic guitar that could almost be a banjo, but I'm sure isn't, before the proper guitar riff comes pounding in, and riding on a very expansive keyboard melody the song takes off. It's almost been worth waiting for; it all depends on how many other pirate songs there are before this album comes to an end. “The Watcher” seems to concern some ancient intelligence that lives, lived or was trapped at the bottom of the sea, so I guess they get some points for at least keeping a nautical theme through two songs, and there's a good kind of semi-power metal rhythm to this one.
This is the problem: there's nothing on this album I don't like, and were I just reviewing it as purely an album in its own right I'd be perhaps not raving about it but certainly praising it, but as this article concerns Pirate Metal, I have to judge every album on those criteria, and generally speaking t his one is not really measuring up that well. Otherwise it's a great album and I'd really recommend it, but not as an example of Pirate Metal. At least, not yet. Though “The temptress” seems to involve a pirate being drawn in by a siren-like female, and being robbed in the end himself, so I guess that could be counted. Another kind of Arabic melody swirling through this one, like it a lot, though it is quite dark. “The Voyage” is another you would expect to have pirate leanings, and indeed it does. I love the way they work in “Pop goes the weasel” into the melody, and also use that most used of pirate phrases “Yo ho ho!” Nice one, guys. Getting better. Great to finally see some humour coming into Pirate Metal, perhaps for the first time.
We end then on “Under the black flag”, and if this is not a pirate song I will eat my parrot! Seems to carry on the basic melody from “Voyage”, and it is in fact the longest track on the album at just over eight and a half minutes. But yeah, there are pirates all over this thing, as Klarich exults in the power of the pirate brotherhood and pities those who go up against them. It is in fact a song of the revenge of a pirate on the captain who has killed so many of his brothers, and needless to say, our pirate is triumphant and takes both the crew's lives and their cargo. In pirate terms, a happy ending!
TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS
1. Pirate attack
2. Jewels of the dead
3. Halls of illusion
4. Northern shores
5. Pieces of eight
6. The scarab
7. High seas
8. The watcher
9. The temptress
10. Voyage
11. Under the black flag
Despite the different metal style, I'd have to give Verbal Deception the gold so far when it comes to actually practicing what they preach, as it were. There's actually more pirate material here on this one album than there was in the four I sampled from Running Wild, and the addition of sound effects and especially humour really makes this album stand out. I've read some poor reviews of it, but I can't agree that this is better than the Germans. For my money, musically and lyrically, yes, Running Wild have the edge on this one-album competitor from Canada, but to me the originators of Pirate Metal were all about untapped and unused potential, most of which, from my brief foray into their discography at least, seemed to be wasted.
Verbal Deception, on the other hand, though they approach the mateiral in a different manner, and do in fairness also have songs that veer away from the pirate theme, have a much more cohesive view of it, and their one album actually for me stands pretty much head and shoulders above anything I've heard from Running Wild. Sadly, they only had this one album but with it I feel they finally unleashed the vast, seething and grinning heart of Pirate Metal. It's just a pity that it seems they sunk without a trace, as they should have had a bright future. Bon voyage, mateys!
Staying with North America, but moving on down south of the Canadian border, we have another band who seem to have made themselves a decent living by blending Pirate Metal and Thrash Metal together. They've released three albums since 2006, and last year after an absence of four years put out an EP, hilariously titled
We hate the sea. I will of course be getting to that, but as they only have three albums plus that, sure why not do their entire discography? It's not as if I have anything else to do, is it?
Hey, at least their name is pirate 101! Their album covers also reflect that, as well as a humourous slant which we've really been missing up to now. Still, I've learned not always to judge an album by its cover in this pseudo-subgenre, so we'll be approaching this with cautious optimism rather than outright expectation.
Crewed by the Damned --- Swashbuckle --- 2006 (Bald Freak Music)
It's a fantastic cover, but as I say... the first track, weirdly and surely coincidentally, is the same title as the last track on the previous album we checked out, by Canadian buccaneers Verbal Deception. It seems to be a very short instrumental though, so they're not covering that song. Got a very Spanish/Mexican feel to it, then the album starts properly with “Welcome aboard” and things get really thrashy. The vocal is growled, and much less intelligible than Kresho Klarich, though it must be said that this guy, who goes by the name of Admiral Nobeard, puts a lot more passion and aggression into his vocal. Lyrically? Try this:
"Yo ho ho! This pirate life's for me!/ We'll slit your throat, you'll walk the plank/ The sharks are all you'll see!” Ooh yeah! Now THIS is Pirate Metal! Wenches and whores and gold galore, as they say, and I love the usage of
"Avast ye! Hornswoggling swashbucklers!” Stereotypical, Hollywood words, yes, but so much fun and they really conjure up the vision of pirates most of us have grown up with, even this young generation, thanks to Disney and Johnny Depp.
You've got to smile and clap your hands at lines like
”We've come to rape and pillage/ And plunder your village” and then in “Drink up”:
”Pass the ale, pass the rum” and
“Drink up mateys! Yo ho ho!” Ah, this pirate life! The album is divided between, it would seem, heads-down, face-punching, gut-wrenching thrash metal and traditional sounding pirate instrumentals. I must say, when the Admiral sings it's pretty hard to make out the words, so it's just as well I have a lyric sheet, but he certainly puts a great sense of fun into the songs, none of which are particularly long (most around the two to three minute mark, many shorter, especially the instrumental interludes). I love the end of “Walk the plank” where, to the delight of the pirate crew, we hear the sound of boards bending and a splash as the offending lubber ends up in the water.
Both Commodore Redrum and Rowin' Joe Po do really well on the guitars, able to switch from the most thrashy, punching metal assault to an almost medieval acoustic with consummate ease, and indeed it seems they all have a hand (presumably with a hook on one end) in writing the lyrics. “Dead men tell no lies” rattles along with anger and fury and revenge, with the final lines
”We'll gather around with all our loot/ And tie a cannon to your boots” surely a classic of its kind. These guys are actually the first so far that I'd love to see live --- they must be a riot! “X marks the spot”, “Upon the Spanish Main”, “Jolly Roger” --- they just keep coming, and while yes, these guys are plundering every available and possible cliche connected to pirates, well hell, isn't that what the thing is supposed to be all about? I have to say too, I love the idea of breaking up the heavier, vocal tracks with an instrumental, each one of which totally reflects a pirate theme, both in title (“Rum runners/What a ship is/ Set sail” etc) and in musical content, most of which are either Spanish guitar ditties or making it sound as if they have mandolins and lyres. It's almost the polar opposite of the vocal tracks, and the difference makes it work so well. Opposites, after all, attract, and we all have two sides to our brain, which work in concert, as the two sides of this album (musically speaking) do.
“Upon the Spanish Main” has a heavy, grinding almost doom metal opening, then kicks into life and speeds along like a pirate galleon in pursuit of a fat freighter and is over before you even realise it has run its two minute length, and we're into another interlude. What I love about these guys is that they seem to literally not give a fu
ck, reflecting neither the almost apologetic stance of Running Wild, who tried to explain what pirates are and why they do, nor the darker, doomier tone of Verbal Deception: Swashbuckle stand up tall and proud, cutlass at their belt, grog in hand and belch “We're f
uckin' pirates! Ya got a problem with that?” Nothing epitomises this as well as “Jolly Roger”, where there is no apology, no explanation and no mercy: they're coming to slit your throat and take your booty! In the case of the ladies, probably literally!
The title track has an almost progressive feel to the opening, then decends into another superb thrashfest, hurtling along at about a hundred knots, certainly faster than a sailing ship can move! Okay, so they reuse lyrics (
”Pillage! Pillage! Raid the village!”) but at this point I'm having so much fun I really don't care, and the lyrics are not that deep anyway, as they probably should not be with Pirate Metal: it's all, or should be, about having a good time, not analysing why this pirate or that captain did what he did, or tracing the historic voyage of whatever pirate ship. If you want that, then Running Wild are the ones for you, but if you just want no-holds-barred, hanging-off-the-rigging-drunk-and-ready-for-a-fight, then you need to listen to Swashbuckle!
TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS
1. Under the black flag
2. Welcome aboard
3. Drink up
4. Set sail
5. Walk the plank
6. What a ship is
7. Dead men tell no lies
8. The wooden world
9. X marks the spot
10. Rum runners
11. The Spanish Main
12. The bazaar
13. Jolly Roger
14. Paradise defined
15. Crewed by the damned
16. A fool's errand
So far, so good. A great start. This is the kind of Pirate Metal I want to hear, and expected to hear. Exciting, vibrant, irreverent, humorous and in its way quite authentic, especially the interludes. Let's see if they can keep it up as we stagger aboard the gangway for a second voyage with these scurvy dogs. Avast there! Will ye be holdin' onta me parrot while I climb aboard? Thankee kindly shipmate!