Alestorm, “Drink” from Sunset on the Golden Age (2014): One Track Mind

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So will Alestorm’s pirate metal schtick ever get old? Man, I hope not.

There’s just something about new music from these Scots that always puts a big grin on my face. And even though my days are much better than they used to be, an Alestorm song still makes for a lot more happiness while I’m sitting at my desk.

“Drink,” the first released track from the band’s fourth album Sunset on the Golden Age (due in August), is pretty much what you expect it to be from the title. This would be the grogging part of the pirate life.

The song begins with hard-hitting, thrash-style drums and guitars. Then there’s a little blast of the folk/pirate sound ahead of a galloping bass-and-drum verse. Everyone rejoins for the big chorus as the pirates storm the port to clear it of its beer, and all other forms of alcohol. Like most of Alestorm’s choruses, this one will be stuck in your head after just a single listen.

The second verse descends into a bit more silliness as frontman Christopher Bowes name-checks at least a dozen of the band’s previous songs, but it’s just great fun.

The song offers a nice mix of the band’s heavier and folk sounds, blending just the right amounts of thrash and piracy. Just try to listen to this and not be happy. If you can, maybe we ought to keelhaul ye, ye filthy landlubber.

Fred Phillips