Pirate Metal - For the villain within

I was chatting with a friend the other day, about all kinds of bands and music genres and so i got to tell him about Pirate Metal. His question was natural, what the f' is pirate metal?  He then gave me the idea to write a little about this kind of music, because it seems that not everyone knows it.

So let's get started; Pirate metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, power metal and folk-inspired. Sure, there are adopted other genres to, every band trying to find something new, but the common point of all pirate metal bands is the subject: they sing about pirates. Sailing, pillaging and plundering, drinking, fighting...ooh the times of glory ..

I will present in a few words the Pirate Metal  bands that impressed me the most (to be really honest, the bands on whose music I love to drink a beer). 

1. Running Wild - The first ones that coined the term pirate metal was German Speed/Power metal band Running Wild, especially after they released the album "Under Jolly Roger" in 1986.  Their music impresses by raw untamed and natural born strength combined with inexorable, uncompromising and merciless power. Dominating rhythms, refrains like hymns, electrifying guitarriffs and a salient singing are more signs of that power quartett coming from Hamburg, Germany.  Becoming authentic was a result of the straight use of real instruments instead of experimentating with synthesizers or playbacks. 

Running Wild MySpace Player

2. Alestorm is a metal band from Perth, Scotland. - the band that introduced me in this genre. Alestorm formed under the name Battleheart in 2004. After releasing two EPs, they were signed by Napalm Records in 2007 and  due to a similarity in name with Battlelore, a band already signed with the label, they were asked to change names; as of August 8th, 2007 their name was officially changed to Alestorm . The luckiest of us have seen them live in 2010 in Bucharest.

MySpace Page

Alestorm -  Shipwrecked 

Alestorm - Keelhauled

3. Swashbuckle - Swashbuckle are an American thrash metal band from Mercer County, New Jersey, formed in 2005. The band is known for its pirate image and humorous stage performances, which include inflatable palm trees, costumes, pirate ships, stuffed parrots, and pointing out concert goers who are not enjoying their performance.

Swaahbuckle - Cruise Ship Terror

Swashbuckle MySpace Player

4. Verbal Deception - Their music has a distinct pirate metal sound from their use of the Bandoneon voice of a keyboard, along with their combination of death, power, and some prog elements. The band's name comes from a phrase in the song "Mentally Blind" by the legendary Death and apparently is a respectful nod to Chuck Schuldiner.

Verbal Deception MySpace Player

5. Wheels of Poseidon - Pirate Rock Metal band from Dublin. "We write original sea shanties about nautical nonsense" (http://breakingtunes.com/wheelsofposeidon).

Wheels of Poseidon MySpace Player

Hope you will enjoy this and now let's find something to drink. Cheers!

@Cneaz