The one and only heavy metal pirates ALESTORM are back and they've brought with them their 5^th full-length album "No Grave But The Sea". I've been sitting on this album for more than a month now, fully enjoying it before all of you can get your hands on it and silently postponing a review. Why? Because my selfish ass did not want to share anything with ya landlubbers.  No other band in the galaxy create such epic modern symphonic folk metal anthems with endless hooks that will be stuck in your head for days, yes, I am talking about those 'stupid songs about getting drunk and stealing treasures' as ALESTROM puts it.

Cutting to the chase, the album starts with "No Grave But The Sea" (duh), hard-hitting drums and within 3 seconds you already have a beat that makes your legs wonder along, and a chorus that you can't stop but sing-along to: "Sail away, set sail into the blue horizon/ Ride the waves, that guide your destiny/ Sail away, today, we fight and there will be/ No mercy for those with no grave/ No grave but the sea".

Next up we have "Mexico" which I bet all you die-hard fans have already been listening to on repeat for days now, and if not, you should walk the plank. Being my favorite track on the album, I could not help but have it on repeat for at least a good 5 hours daily, which means I've been drunk more times that I would have liked. It has an irish hook/twist to it that you can't stop but dance like a moron with a plastic sword in your hand, "three margaritas and a taco" in the other hand. If my sentence doesn't make much sense, listen to the song and message me later.

"To The End Of The World" starts with a battle-cry-like intro, talking about the 3000 years of deception science have given us. No, no, don't panic, ALESTORM did not have a change of heart and are now singing about philosophy or anything serious for that matter. The song is mostly a calling to 'lay waste to the doctrine of law' and to continue pillaging and plundering, riding into the storm, to the end of the world.

"Alestorm" is basically Pirating 101 - How to be a pirate. With a growl voice that for some reason reminds me of Alissa White-Gluz, Christopher Bowes starts warning us about a storm, but that's not that important, we learn that "rum, beer, quests and mead" are the things that a pirate needs.

Moving on, we also have a lovely ballad on the album, "Fucked With An Anchor". A nice and soft acoustic intro that turns swiftly to heavy riffs. The song touches complex subjects such as witchcraft, anger and revenge.

If I haven't already convinced you that ALESTORM's new album "No Grave But The Sea" is something you HAVE to get your hands on, then 'fuck you with a fucking anchor'.  Being a 'theme' band, ALESTORM faces the challenge of keeping both their image and their music consistent, without sacrificing one over the other, and they do it masterfully with this 5^th album.