Trollheart

Pretty much no. When we had to make a call we had to go down to the local public box at the corner. I think we got our first phone in around maybe 1978? There were phones, but not every house had one. Hell, it was the late eighties before video recorders came on the scene! And even then they were mega-expensive...

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While this new article may seem a little similar to the "What's that all about?" feature, yet to air, it is in fact quite different. This will be a one-off series looking into one particular aspect of Metal that is perhaps sneered at by some, liked by others, loved by a few and perhaps even there are metalheads out there who are unaware even of the existence of this type of music. So under the banner of

we're going to have a look at the oft-ridiculed Metal that flies its own flag and doesn't give a curse what anyone else thinks.

We metalheads sometimes take our subgenres too seriously --- such-and-such is not a metal subgenre, such-and-such is not this subgenre, it's that one, etc --- and even last year I knew when I ran “What's that all about?” that Viking Metal was not strictly speaking a subgenre of metal, but it was fun to explore. This, on the other hand, I know not to be any sort of subgenre, but by Blackbeard's ghost, it's going to be fun to write about!

Though neither are strictly speaking subgenres of metal, bands who play Viking Metal (as written about by me last year) tend to generally take their subject quite seriously, and why not? It is after all usually their past and their heritage they're singing about, and that demands to be treated with respect and not sent up. Pirate Metal, on the other hand, by its very nature cannot be taken seriously. How can it? It's all about looting, pillaging, sailing the high seas and thumbing your nose at the law; serious subjects when they actually occurred, and piracy was likely to get a man hanged if he were caught, but now the stuff of swashbuckling Hollywood movies and cartoons. The whole idea of piracy --- the irreverent, macho, live for today attitude --- demands to be played with tongue inserted firmly in cheek, and so this is how Pirate Metal bands approach the subject matter. You might as well expect the likes of Tankard to write deep, meaningful lyrics about getting pissed --- it simply does not happen, and we love Tankard and their ilk for this very reason, the fact that they neither take themselves seriously nor expect their fans to.

Not that I'm suggesting in any way that these are joke bands, or that they don't apply themselves with the utmost fervour and dedication to their music. They're metal bands, of course they do. In the same way as some of those we have yet to meet in the “When Worlds Collide” section, coming up later, though poking gentle fun at certain subjects, are competent musicians and professionals, play well and write (or parody) well, so the likes of The Dread Crew of Oddwood, Swashbuckle, Running Wild and Alestorm make sure their songs are well-written, well researched and played, but above all, great fun. That is, so far as I can see, given the somewhat paucity of the information available, the main aim of any Pirate Metal band: to have a good time, and ensure that their fans and those who listen to their music do likewise.

This article, though it will be seriously looking at the phenomenon of Pirate Metal, will have much humour in it, so expect many cliches and pirate phrases. And if ye don't like that, then ye're a scurvy dog and we'll keelhaul ye and send ye to the bottom o' Davy Jones' Locker! So hoist the tops'l, weigh anchor, fix yer eyepatch and check yer cutlass is at yer side, as we're about to sail forth across the majestic sea in search of plunder, booty and fame. And beer. Lots of beer.

Har har, me hearties! Tis t' glory we sail! With a yo ho ho, and perhaps I might venture to add, a bottle of rum into the bargain?

The earliest version of Pirate Metal known to exist is from a band called Running Wild from Germany. Having released two albums with more-or-less black metal influences, at least lyrically, they changed their direction with 1987's Under Jolly Roger, veering more in the way of pirate-themed songs. Although this was not initially planned, as Rolf Kasparek explains in this 1996 interview with Martin Frust:

”That was just a coincidence and not planned at all. When we we're working on Under Jolly Roger some years ago, we were looking for a title song and I thought "Under Jolly Roger" is a really good title. So we had the cover and our stage clothes designed around that. I read a lot of books about the subject and found everything very interesting. It fit together very well and we enhanced the subject with Port Royal. Within a short time it had become our trademark and it's remained with us to this day.” (WebCite query result)

Whether by accident or design then (depending on how much you can believe Kasparek) it can be said that Running Wild created the whole idea of Pirate Metal, and so it is with them we should begin. Though there are relatively few bands involved in the scene, some of them have a reasonably large discography, so it stands to reason I won't be reviewing every album, but like other articles I have written in the past will just select a few albums which I think or hope will best represent their body of work. There is of course no doubt about where we should and will start though.

Under Jolly Roger --- Running Wild --- 1987 (Noise)

After their Satanic/black metal approach to their first two albums had not seemed to work, or had been pushing them in the wrong direction, Rolf Kasparek decided that having written the title track, the idea was so strong and at the time so new that really, this should be their new image and he wrote the rest of the album around that track, resulting in the first Pirate Metal album. Oddly though, he seems a little confused with the motives of pirates on this first song. He tries to make them out as noble avengers, ”Venerable scoundrels, no blood on our hands/ Our engagements are tough, but only for defence” which apart from being a terrible rhyme is totally inaccurate, as is ”Coming through the waves to free all the captives” --- what captives? Slaves? Men who had been press-ganged into serving on ships? Why? And how would they even know about such ships and who was aboard? Pirates didn't care about such things; they were not the liberators of the high seas. They sailed and fought for gain, for gold and silver and spices, anything they could rob and sell, and they certainly did have blood on their hands, as few if any of the crews of the ships they attacked wouldbe allowed to live and would fight to survive.

Perhaps, these being his first, faltering steps into a brand new style of metal, at least lyrically, Kasparek was feeling his way, testing out the water, to use a very appropriate metaphor, to see if the fans responded to such material. But it's odd: Viking metal bands didn't try to pretend their heroes were just farmers pillaging to survive, or taking land that had been originally theirs, because neither is true. Everyone knows what the Norsemen were; history has made that plain. And in the same way, we know enough about pirates --- both historically and through the less well balanced and informed lens of Hollywood --- to know they were rough, tough men who asked no quarter and certainly gave none, men who lived by their wits and their strength, and who seldom if ever backed down from a fight. They were also unlikely to leave too many survivors once they boarded a ship. So this kind of “pussification” of pirates is both inaccurate and quite annoying. It's kind of like he's saying “We're pirates, but we're not bad pirates. We only do this because we have to”, which is also completely wrong. With a few exceptions, the vast majority of pirates chose that career, and most of them were good enough sailors and captains that, had they wished to, they could have served in any navy or onboard any merchant vessel. They just didn't want to; they preferred the life of a buccaneer.

Be all that as it may, the music is pretty damn sweet. With the sounds of surf, the creak of boards, shouts of “Ship ahoy!” and then cannon firing, we're launched into the world of Pirate Metal with the title track. The vocal of Rolf Kasparek (who I'll just refer to as Rolf from now on) is a good dark throaty gruff kind of snarl, low enough to make you think of pirate captains but still very understandable. The chorus is really anthemic, and I love the way cannon keep firing off through the song. “Under Jolly Roger”, then, introduces the whole concept of pirates (for those who somehow have never heard of them) and it's pretty much a mission statement, with a powerful ending that really befits such a song, and indeed the birth of a whole new way of looking at heavy metal lyrics. To be fair, “Beggar's night” doesn't really fit into the band's new persona, and is not that much related to the pirate theme, unless you take it that the beggars who ”stand up to break our chains” include men who are, or would go on to be, pirates. Really though I don't see it as part of the pirate thing. Good song though.

“Diamonds of the black chest” could qualify on its title alone, and the search for this elusive treasure, but turns out to be a parable about chasing an unattainable goal when, after finally tracking down and opening the legendary chest, he opens it but ”No diamonds but he sees his own face/ A possessed wreck with an empty gaze”. In the same way, “War in the gutter” really harks back to “Beggar's night”, concentrating on the poor and disenfranchised rising up and taking power. Again, it, like the three tracks before it, is a good metal track and rockets along nicely with some fine solos, but there's nothing even vaguely piratey about it. “Raise your fist” --- a cliche if ever I heard one --- steals lines from Lizzy's “The boys are back in town” for the opening words, but comes across as an exhortation to kids to rebel and stand up to authority. In some ways, it's a little worrying as it could be read (though I'm sure it's not intended as such) as a call to those unhinged kids who go to school one day with automatic weapons and another massacre is perpetrated. I'm a little worried at the refrain: ”Come on kids unite and let us feel the flames of rage/ Together we are strong so let's tear up this golden cage/ We shall overcome repression and their straining strings /The shackles have to fall and we will be metallian kings/ Raise your fist!” Um, yeah....

At least “Land of ice” has ships mentioned in its lyric, but it turns out to be a rather ham-fisted morality tale about nuclear weapons which I must admit I don't understand, at least the references to experiments in 1987 and 1999. Has a nice, crushing, ominous feel to it, very slow and almost doomy, with wind and thunder effects and for me betrays a kind of Dio influence. “Raw hide” is a by-the-numbers metal motorbike song, and the album ends on “Merciless game”, a quasi-political song that has exactly zero pirates in it.

TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS

1. Under Jolly Roger
2. Beggar's night
3. Diamonds of the black chest
4. War in the gutter
5. Raise your fist
6. Land of ice
7. Raw ride
8. Merciless game

Okay, in retrospect that probably wasn't the best album to take as our first example of Pirate Metal, as 95% of it has nothing to do with pirates. However, it is I believe still important to have featured, as it shows how, on the next album, Running Wild dropped almost all other lyrical themes and concentrated on the pirate thing. Didn't they? No? Um, well ... It's also, as already mentioned, the very first example of Pirate Metal, and even if the opening and title track is all that concerns the subject, it's still important.

So by the following year Running Wild had grasped the nettle firmly and run with the idea of a pirate themed album, appropriately called Port Royal, after the infamous pirate city of the seventeenth century, former capital of Jamaica. Originally authorised by the Queen to harry the Spanish fleets, these men were called privateers, presumably to distinguish them from “common” pirates, and the most famous of their number was of course Sir Francis Drake. With loose morals and even looser laws, Port Royal was where the privateer fleets berthed, where they had their homes and where, after losing the royal seal of approval when they became too rich and powerful and could have been seen to have threatened the Crown, they reverted to lawless ways and their own code, leading to the legend of the pirates we know today.

Even at this point, the band have not yet thrown their full weight behind the idea of pirates, despite the title and the album cover, and really only three of these tracks can confidently claim to be “pirate songs” (well, four if you include the intro, a fifty-second track that simply tells you you're in Port Royal!) while Running Wild look back to their not-yet-totally-abandoned past, with songs railing against God and religion, and a few about rebellions and revolts a la “Beggar's night” and “War in the gutter”. You can't really blame them: the first of their contemporaries would only form in 2002, a whole fourteen years later, and their real comrades in arms, Alestorm, would only get together two years after that, so for almost a decade and a half Running Wild were flying the Jolly Roger alone, trying to bring the idea of Pirate Metal to the masses, in a time when other bands were concentrating on writing power metal lyrics, or black metal, or getting into thrashier, faster stuff. Generally speaking, in terms of bands, nobody else was interested in jumping aboard ship.

So, still possibly unsure as to whether this new direction was the right one or not (though surely encouraged by record sales, which showed an increase of 200,000 on the previous album, topping out at 1.8 million units --- they must have realised they were doing something right, as both of these albums separately sold more than their first two combined. But it was still a slow process), they released their fourth album, second "Pirate Metal" one, but even so, as I say we have a lot of non-pirate songs on this album.

Port Royal --- Running Wild --- 1988 (Noise)

As I mentioned already, the opening track is fifty seconds long and consists of nothing more than footsteps walking presumably along a pier and then into an alehouse, from which raucous laughter and sea shanties emit, the unnamed stranger walks up to the bar, obviously lost, and asks “Where am I?” to which a hearty laugh responds telling him he is in Port Royal! We then hammer into the title track, which speaks of the famous port, with a great anthemic chorus. It's driven on fast guitar in very much a power metal vein, and it would have been nice had this introduced a whole album of pirate songs, but “Raging fire”, though you could really stretch it and call it one, is really more a song of revenge and revolt, then they're back to talking about the hypocisy of religion in “Into the arena”.

If anyone thinks I'm glossing over any tracks that aren't relevant to the subject, you're right: I'm not writing this to review albums by these bands, but to look at their contribution to the pseudo-subgenre, so if a track or ten tracks have nothing to do with Pirate Metal, I'm just mentioning them in passing. This should be not taken to mean the songs are not good --- most of them are, very very good indeed --- simply that they don't fall within the criteria under which I'm writing this. I will however draw your attention to “Uaschitschun”, which is based on the disenfranchisement of the Native American, and a very powerful song. Driven by a guitar riff that somehow sounds like a Native American dance or chant, it ends with the famous and moving speech by Chief Seattle to the men who came to try to purchase his lands: “Only when the last tree has been felled, the last fish caught and the last river poisoned will we know that man cannot eat money.”

“Final gates” is a short instrumental, and while “Conquistadores” brings us a little closer to the world of the pirate, it is of course about Cortez and the Spanish explorers who succeeded in wiping out the entire Aztec race in their greed for gold. Although “Blown to kingdom come” sounds like it should be a pirate song, I can't find any references to such in the lyric, and it seems to refer more to knights and warriors, and be a kind of anti-war song of sorts. As indeed is “Warchild”. This kind of stance against war sort of grates with their professed love of pirates; I mean, after all, there's certainly conflict, even war of sorts in the life of a pirate. So far, I am finding Running Wild to be something of a contadiction, but they sure can rock!

“Mutiny” gets us back on the high seas, and tells the story of sailors who have been pushed too far --- ”The water barrels going bad/ Daily a sailor dies...” and the death of one of their shipmates that pushes them over the edge and forces them to take command of the ship on which they serve. It's not a pirate song, but it's about halfway there, and you can imagine that the mutineers, if they get away with it, may indeed go on to become bucanneers and corsairs, but there's nothing ambiguous about “Calico Jack”. The closing track introduces us to the eponymous pirate, and it's their longest song yet, at over eight minutes. With a sort of Maiden feel to parts of it, it opens on an acoustic guitar that then gives way to a powerful electric and takes off into pure power metal territory, rocking and rollicking along. Calico Jack doesn't get away with it though, and we hear the judge tell him that he has been found guilty of piracy and sentence him to be hanged, however the pirate's mocking laughter echoes as he is taken away, swearing he will see the judge again.

Seems he was a real figure, which doesn't really surprise me, as Rolf is known for diligently researching for his songs, and Calico Jack appears to have been the pirate who designed and first flew the skull and crossbones flag, the Jolly Roger. However I was surprised to see that Rolf had him sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, which as far as I know was a punishment reserved for traitors to the Crown, and I don't think piracy (which would have been looked upon as mere thievery but on a grander scale) would have fit that description, so it's more than likely that he was just hanged. I also note that his character features in the new TV drama Black Sails.

TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS

1. Intro
2. Port Royal
3. Raging fire
4. Into the arena
5. Uaschitschun
6. Final gates
7. Conquistadores
8. Blown to kingdom come
9. Warchild
10. Mutiny
11. Calico Jack

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An excellent closing track and perhaps, with the opener and closer, Running Wild were announcing their intention of bringing the pirate theme more to the fore on future albums. This I would still not, despite the title, artwork and the few pirate tracks on it, consider a true Pirate Metal album, though at the time it was the only one out there. But later, with bands like Alestorm and Swashbuckle coming through, the whole idea of keeping the theme running through the entire album would be embraced and as a result some really excellent Pirate Metal albums would come to be.

As for Running Wild, I note their next album, Death or Glory, while supposedly one of their most popular, still seems to have many non-pirate songs on it --- “Bad to the bone”, “Battle of Waterloo”, “Evilution”, while tracks such as “Billy the kid”, “Over the rainbow”, “Little Bighorn”, “Rolling wheels” turn up on the next one, Blazon Stone. So we move on to what we can see is a full pirate album from them, or at least a concept album with very much pirate themes surrounding it.


Black Hand Inn --- Running Wild --- 1994 (Noise)
So, as we say here, what's the story? Well, the story basically is about a man, John Xenir, who uses black magic and is burned at the stake. But it would appear he is not dead, as he now runs an inn (the title one of course) which uses the only part of him that remained after he had been burned --- his blackened hand --- as its sigil. The opening track, “The curse”, is almost all spoken word, as John receives his sentence from the Inquisitor, then at first gentle, then more punchy guitar kicks in as the track ends in instrumental and into the title track. I must say, it certainly conjures up a real feeling of excitement, of something building. “Black Hand Inn” tells of the setting up of the tavern and of the man, rumoured to be a magician, who runs it. It's a great classic power metal song, and pulls in Running Wild's traditional anger against religion when a priest denounces John for trafficking with demons, but John proves that it is the priest who is evil.

The pace keeps up for “Mr. Deadhead”, which seems to be a sort of shot at man's greed and basic evil, and “Soulless” continues this theme, the song slightly slower with a kind of boogie feel to it, sharper, in-your-face guitar giving it almost a 70s hard rock idea, then the pirate theme comes home with a bang as “The privateer” rattles along on power metal rails, Xenir now seen as a cross between a seer and a pirate. He also appears to have become some sort of fighter for justice, which kind of dampens the pirate angle a little. There's an invitation to “Fight the fire of hate” with another powerful rocker, some sweet solos and an anthemic chorus that just sticks in your head, and then there's a nice sort of medieval guitar to open “The phantom of Black Hand Hill”.

It soon bursts into a big power metal thunderer though, and you could almost believe you were listening to early eighties Maiden here; the guitars are just fucking immense! Fantastic solo there near the end. “Freewind rider” puts me very much in mind of Denim and Leather/Wheel of Steel-era Saxon, though the rider is on a horse, not a motorcycle. The melody of the chorus sounds familiar, though I can't place it at the moment. But now we're back to pirates with “Powder and iron”, and does it rattle along! Everything then slows down on what sounds like synth, or else flute, pan pipes or something like that as we move into the realms of high fantasy with “Dragonmen”, and it only slowed for a few moments; it's now bursting forth with renewed energy. I must admit though, the change in lyrical matter is confusing me. If you're going to write a concept album, even a loose one, try to keep to the storyline. What has this to do with John Xenir?

Be that as it may, the very history of man is told in “Genesis (The Making and the Fall of Man)”, surely the longest song Running Wild have attempted, at just over fifteen minutes long. It opens with a narrated introduction which seems to refer to aliens from a far planet finding Earth and utilising the gold therein to rejuvenate their atmosphere (don't ask me: I didn't write it!) --- I think Rolf is using the ancient Babylonian or Sumerian gods here. He certainly mentions Enki and Eridu and others. But then it bleeds into Old Testament narrative as we hear about the Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah and the great battle of Armageddon, though Rolf gets it somewhat wrong here, quoting the “seventh month of 1999” as being Judgement Day. Um, still here, Rolf... talk to the Mayans, they know how you feel.

I suppose the overarching theme can be linked to say that these events are what John Xenir sees in his visions, but I feel the concept is so loose as to be almost falling apart. None of which takes from the excellence of the album, of course, which will be enjoyed by any power metal fan, but as a Pirate Metal album, again, it sort of disappoints me.

TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS

1. The Curse
2. Black Hand Inn
3. Mr. Deadhead
4. Soulless
5. The privateer
6. Fight the fire of hate
7. The phantom of Black Hand Inn
8. Freewind rider
9. Powder and iron
10. Dragonmen
11. Genesis (The making and fall of Man)

The problem I'm encountering with Running Wild so far (and I accept that I have not listened to all their albums, but a quick check through lyrics has told me whether or not a certain album fulfills the criteria for Pirate Metal) is twofold: one, their music veers between (very good) pirate songs and then other related material, and two, they're too serious for me. I mean, half the time they're advocating Man give up his evil ways and stop destroying each other and the planet --- which I have no problem with; it's good advice at any time, especially in 2015 --- the other half they're painstakingly describing the exploits of historical pirates. But to paraphrase Mister Burns, where's the fun?

Admittedly, my only personal experience with Pirate Metal up to this has been Alestorm, and I loved them because they were irreverent, hilarious and didn't give a fuck. They're not concerned whether Captain Jack Morgan lived in 1759 or 1790, or even if he lived at all (well, that's not totally true, as we'll see when we get to them), but more with having a good time and making the sort of music you can enjoy and laugh with. For me, Running Wild, though they are the progenitors of this music, missed a trick here, and that was just to have fun with the subject, and through that, to ensure their fans did too. I've enjoyed the music, the lyrics are on the whole pretty good, but there hasn't been one instance here where I've felt the urge to smile, whereas by the time I had got through the one Alestorm album I did listen to I had had to change my underwear three times!

Maybe this attitude changed as time went on, although I kind of doubt it. But we'll move right up to the twenty-first century as we check out the last offering from them that I'm going to look at before we move on.


The Brotherhood --- Running Wild --- 2002 (Gun)

Sort of continuing the sense of disappointment vis a vis Pirate Metal, this album opens on another non-pirate track, as “Welcome to Hell” warns once again of the evils of man, with a nice trundling rhythm, biting guitars and hammering drums, “Soulstrippers” has some message about TV violence I think, and while I really thought the title track would be one, it's not: some sort of political rant against warmongers. It's a pity, as so far the album has been pretty stellar, but just as a power metal one, not a Pirate Metal one. I've yet to hear one song even vaguely referencing corsairs. “Crossfire” sounds like it might have some potential, right? Wrong. It's another stand-up-and-fight song, and while there's nothing wrong with them, I am beginning to weary a little of them. How many more ways can these guys overuse this tired subject?

At least the next one is an instrumental, and a long one at over six minutes, with “Detonator” apparently about someone who rather enjoys bombs and dynamite. This is finally followed by a song which has to be about pirates, since it's called, wait for it, “Pirate song”! Sure enough, it is, as we joyously return to the rogues of the high seas, and it's been worth waiting for, a rollicking, rolling rocker of a song with a great sense of bravado and courage, and for once just simply exulting in the pirate lifestyle, but it doesn't last of course as “Unation” (what?) and “Dr Horror” both return to other themes. Good power rockers, but I can get that on any power metal album really. The album then ends on another epic, ten minutes long this time, and focussing on T.E. Lawrence, the man who became known as “Lawrence of Arabia”. “The ghost” kicks off with a suitably Arabian riff, then jumps into a galloping power metal romp, and while the lyric is not the best it's a pretty climactic closer to the album.

TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS

1. Welcome to Hell
2. Soulstrippers
3. The Brotherhood
4. Crossfire
5. Siberian winter
6. Detonator
7. Pirate song
8. Unation
9. Dr. Horror
10. The Ghost

While I would not be so crass as to begrudge Running Wild their place as the fathers of Pirate Metal (it would be impossible to do so; they were, after all, the first and only ones doing this for about fifteen years), their tendency to stray away from the subject on every album I've listened to from them, and even when they do concentrate on pirates, the general air of almost stuffy historianism that pervades their songs takes an awful lot of what I saw as the fun in Pirate Metal out of it. While it's good that they're so determined to make sure their songs reflect proper historical facts and dates, I would not be so concerned about this as I would about making the music a wild ride, and given the name of their band that's what I would have expected.

But maybe it's because they're German, not exactly known for their sense of humour, or maybe it's because they ploughed this furrow alone for so long, or even that they weren't sure how far they could push the envelope without overstepping and stretching the patience of their fans; whatever the reason, I find Running Wild, as the fathers of Pirate Metal, behaving in exactly the way you would expect parents to: careful, dignified (compared to what followed) and sticking to a core set of values from which they would not budge. There's no question that they invented the pseudo-subgenre, but in later times, others were to take it to extremes that these guys had never even considered, and in so doing, make it far more acceptable and less stodgy than I found the majority of the pirate songs here.

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Interesting. Is it just Dio-era Sabbath, or post-Ozzy? After all, there were only really three albums with RJD (plus a live one), so I just wonder if you rate them for their albums with the other vocalists, later on too, or are you simply pro-Ozzy era and that's it? I can't speak to technical areas of guitar playing, but I thought some of Iommi's best solos were on Heaven and Hell, though there's no doubt that he dropped the dark, doomy tone he had pioneered.

I of course am a Dio fanboy, so although I also love Ozzy era I will usually go for Dio-led, as the change to a more progressive and slightly less dark direction chimed with me. What did you think of 13?

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Frownland

I'm also not a big fan of the Dio years, but those records are pretty damn fantastic compared to Never Say Die! and Technical Ecstasy.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Trollheart

Yeah but in fairness, any Sabbath album would be fantastic compared to those two...

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Into Day Two we go, and another new album to check out, the second one from January as we review another release that has been

As you all know, Death Metal is generally not my thing, but this is Metal Month after all, and it's unfair of me to restrict reviews to albums from genres I personally like, and indeed I've tried to avoid that over the last two years this has been running, resulting in some pretty nasty headaches for me! In keeping with that tradition then of all-inclusion, here's the next new album I want to take a look at.

Crusade Zero --- Hate --- 2015 (Napalm)

Introduction: With a name like Hate, you probably can guess what to expect, and I guess if they weren't a Death Metal band then maybe the name might belie them, but in this instance I sincerely doubt it. Hate come from Poland, which is certainly interesting: I'm not aware of too many DM bands that hail from there, though of course as I just said I know very little about this subgenre, so for all I know the country could be crawling with them. It could be the epicentre and focal point of Death Metal. But again, I kind of doubt it. This is Hate's ninth album, and looking at them on their Wiki page, well, they don't look like the kind of dudes you would invite in to watch Grey's Anatomy, do they? They'd probably be more interested in exploring your anatomy! Preferably from the inside.

Okay, that's enough generic slurs on Death Metal and this band in particular. Let's get down to cases. Cotton wool at the ready, here we go!

Track-by-track
1. Vox Dei (A call from beyond): This is short, so expecting an instrumental. Thunder booms, guitar wails, rains falls, sort of synthy strings? Dark, pealing bass and guitar gives you the idea that, um, something wicked this way comes. A minute and a half, and as expected it's an introductory instrumental.
2. Lord, make me an instrument of thy wrath! Another short one, another instrumental? Could be. Sort of carryon from the opener, perhaps odd to have two short instrumentals opening the album but we'll see. At least it's holding back the moment when I have to face the vocals!
3. Death liberator: And there they are. Here's where the music really begins. Deep, growly voice as I expected as singer Adam “ATF Sinner” (?) Buszko lets loose, but to be fair he's not too indecipherable. Ah, how you've matured, Trollheart, eh? There was a time when I wouldn't even think of listening to vocals like this, now I can comment on them. The music meanwhile is heavy, guitar-driven of course but not quite as aggressive as I would have expected it to be. Most of the tracks here seem to alternate between the five-to-six-minute mark and a minute or more, the latter of which I assume are little instrumentals and interludes. This is one of the longer ones, six minutes exactly, and you know, it's not bad. That main riff is to die for.
4. Leviathan: Starts with some feedback and sound effects which are I guess meant to conjure up visions of the great beast rising up out of the sea, then it's kind of dark and Sabbathy with a great grinding riff attended by another great riff. ATF Sinner seems to want to just sing (or bellow) something like “The beast called (?) Leviathan!” over and over. The lads on the guitars though are keeping it real. Take a bow, Konrad “Destroyer” Ramatowski, and ATF himself, who also takes axe duties in Hate. Ok, now ATF is singing more words, but I can't make most of them out. He's certainly passionate though. Great sense of doom and catastrophe on this track.
5. Doomsday celebrities: Another great heavy guitar line, thunderous drums and a big roar from ATF, something about embracing the silence? Superb.
6. Hate is the law: I already love it for the title! A great crushingly heavy opening, then it really gets going with guttural vocals from ATF and punishing guitar from him and the other lad. Sweet. Did he just growl “Rip this fucking world apart?” Ah, bless!
7. Valley of darkness: He brings fire, apparently. And in case you didn't hear him the first time, he brings fire, and he'll keep bringing it, as the vocal just keeps repeating pretty much the same sentence. So, what does he bring? Anyone? Hilarious. Great guitar passage near the end.
8. Crusade: zero: Wonderful chimy guitar work with some sort of bells pealing near the end and ol' ATF holding like a Black Mass or something. Or maybe reading his shopping list, I don't know. Sounds dark though, and “There's no light at the end of the tunnel”, he assures us.
9. The omnipresence: One of those shorter tracks; kind of ambient, atmospheric, spooky. An instrumental, one assumes? One is right.
10. Rise Omega the consequence! Odd title, doesn't scan. Good powerful dramatic guitar opening though, hammers along nicely.
11. Dawn of war: Another big instrumental intro and then it's all Sabbath for a while until it picks up and puts on its running shoes. For a six-minute track this does not drag at all.
12. Black aura debris: Another short one to end on, just shy of two minutes. An instrumental? You bet. Almost a case of “Welcome to the machine”, with its mechanical, droning ambient sound as a big guitar punches and slices across it. Maybe that's meant to be the world after Armageddon? Good ending.

Conclusion: Who would have thought I could ever enjoy a Death Metal album, especially one with those kind of vocals? But I did, very much so. I'm not saying I'd go back to it and listen to it for pleasure or anything, but it was a hell of a lot better than some of the albums I had to listen to last year. Or maybe I'm just maturing. Is that possible? Answers on a postcard... ah, ask yer da!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Further problems raise their head; the lot of poor Trollheart eh? A lot of the bands on Metal Archives's list are shown as split-up, and really, unless the band was really well-known there's little point in my highlighting them if they are no longer around. Which restricts me then to “active” bands, of which there are not fistfuls to be honest. This one, however, is interesting. They apparently play Southern Metal. Southern Metal? In Bosnia? This I need to hear.

Just one problem: no album available. Or rather, there is, but I can't find it. Never fear though: they released a five-song EP only last year and again some enterprising metalhead has uploaded the whole thing in one go to the Y, so I can listen to that. And here it is.

One stone --- Misery Crown --- 2014 (Self-released)

Another good thing is that these guys sing in English, so I should be hopefully able to get a better idea what their music is about. No keyboards this time, just two guitars, bass drum and vocals. They hail from beautiful Sarajevo and have only been together since 2012, but unlike our friends Apocalypse, they have already had an album in 2013 and now as I say an EP last year, so they're not letting the grass grow under their feet. It's a fast, frenetic guitar assault but then, weirdly, vocalist Ensar Bistrivoda has a sort of dour, slow doom voice which then metamorphoses into something close to a death growl. Indeed. “In absence of...” starts the EP off well, with deep enough lyrics: ”Nothing is sacred, nothing falls from the skies, no other truth beneath lies.” Okay, hardly the most original lines in the world but still, better than “kill everyone” or whatever.

Much slower and crunchier is the title track, with snarling guitars leading the line and Bistrivoda giving it socks on the vocals. Kind of reminds me of Hetfield maybe. Maybe not. Not a big Metallica fan, but it's what comes to mind. Good fast guitar solo speeds things up before it drops back down to the original tempo and kind of repeats really. I do like the idea in the lyric: ”One stone took down the giant/ All alone I stand in defiance.” Says it all really. A slow rasping guitar quickly becomes a chugalong one as “Lesser man” boogies along really nicely, with an interesting political message in the song: ”We gave them power/ And we can take it back” though they do belabour the point a little, repeating the word “back” several times.

Unfortunately they run out of ideas before the song is over and just repeat the whole thing but pushing up the tempo, which really does not work. I thought it was over, and it was ending well (in fact, I really like(d) this song) and then they did this, which just made a total mess of it. Why? It's only an EP: it's not like they had to fill up space, and if they had to, why not maybe a guitar solo or something? It just seems so unnecessary and so untidy. A real pity. And then they do it again. It gets just beyond ridiculous. The next track is an Alice in Chains cover apparently --- don't know their music, but it's called “Dam that river”, and if you know AiC I guess you'll know the song. As for how well they cover it, I couldn't tell you of course, but it's a decent rock stomper from what I can gather.

That leaves us with one track before the EP comes to a close, and “Among the brave” unfortunately has our man trying to sing death metal, and he's really not up to it: his “death growls” just sound like he has wind or something. A poor ending to what is generally not too bad an EP, if a little overblown. Don't really see the Southern Metal influence though. Unless ... is Sarajevo in the south of Bosnia? No, it's about the middle. Don't get it then.

TRACKLISTING

1. In absence of...
2. One stone
3. Lesser man
4. Dam that river
5. Among the brave

I don't know: if I had had a chance to listen to the full album I might have got into this, but if they insist on overextending their songs with pointless repetition, maybe this EP was enough. I have to say though it's a good bit better than poor old Apocalypse, then again that's really not saying very much, is it?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

I noticed you put an Alice Cooper album in all this lot, I don't think I've ever seen you ever mention or review an Alice Cooper album before which is kind of strange.

That's when loads of them moved to the UK to get things like landlines and running hot water etc.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

#irelandblows

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