If you think you're 'in to' pirates but you are not listening to Alestorm then you are doing it all wrong. This Scottish pirate metal band have been releasing music for over 15 years but for some reason they managed to pass me by until now. Before today if I wanted a pirate vibe I would default to Dropkick Murphys but now I have discovered Alestorm, Dropkick Murphys look more like the coast guard than swashbucklers.

This week Alestorm have released their seventh studio album aptly named Seventh Rum Of A Seventh Rum. I haven't listened to the rest of their catalog (yet) so I can't tell you how much of a progression it is from the last six but I can tell you that it goes incredibly hard. There are clear influences from across the world of metal and a unique polish of salty sea spray blending it all together. As the name suggest BNWOHM plays a big part in their sound and this is most evident in the drumming style which from the get go keeps new listeners grounded somewhere reasonably familiar. The violins and hurdy gurdy along with the sea shanty style choruses cement the theme and there's no ambiguity as to what they are shooting for.

Where you would normally expect a guitar solo, most tracks on this record feature either horns or strings for a dramatic break. I particularly love this feature and the way the accompanying instruments part and give space for the solo to shine through. When it is the guitars turn, such as in Bite The Hook Hand That Feeds, the riffs are often simple and repeated rather than the theatrics you would normally get from other power metal bands of a similar style. The melodies are also cleverly selected and never break the theme.

The choruses are backed with a choir of drunk miscreants which works perfectly and really adds to the atmosphere. It feels as though vocalist Chris Bowes is genuinely fronting a whole crew of men fighting to get to the front.

Overall, there is very little to fault about this record. I love what they are trying to do and I love how they are doing it. The benefit of having such a strong theme is that you know exactly what you are going to get and provided they are embracing that you won't be disappointed. If I don't want to listen to pirate metal then I won't put this record on. If I do though, I shall pour a rum, raise the sails and let Alestorm carry me away to Tortuga!