OL' JOLLY ROGER began back in 2011 in the town of Setúbal, Portugal. Being brand new to the Metal scene, these guys put on one hell of a live show, to show they are real about the music they make.  OL' JOLLY ROGER is the first Pirate Folk Metal band to come from Portugal, and the pirate shows in everything they do. After playing over 30 shows around Portugal the band's intentions are to "give a breath of fresh air to the underground scene." They are heavily influenced in Thrash and Black Metal. They are also influenced by bands such as KORPIKLANNI, ELUVEITIE, and FINNTROLL among other well know Folk Metal bands.

The band has released their debut EP "From The Depths We Rise" earlier in 2014. "From The Depths We Rise" comes in with six tracks and a listening time of 26 minutes. If you like folk music, you will like this album. It has all the good stuff of Folk and Metal with stories of the Pirates. The album starts with "Mead". It is a fun, upbeat track that gives you an idea of what these guys can produce. The guitar solo towards the end of the track is beautifully done. What makes it incredibly fun and creative is the keyboard, sounding a lot like an accordion that mimics the solo in its own solo.

Track four "Adamastor" is the epitome of what Pirate Folk Metal is. This track puts you into a scene of a ship's deck with the rest of the crew. It is music like this that put music in the place it is today; ancient song and word, spoken to bring the story to life and entertain the crowd. The keys steal the show for in this track. This is a good track with a great story and fantastic music.

Track five, "Black Flag" is much harder and shows a better vision of the Black Metal aspects of the track. The track is much darker, I suppose matching the name and "hailing the black flag". The bass has a pretty cool line in this track along with the guitars and even the drums are pretty creative.

Speaking of drums, I hadn't mentioned them above because they almost seem to transition from one song to another without changing sound. For this one, though, I think because it mixes with the keys and the accordion sound so well, it's hard to claim that the drums being less creative is a bad thing. I think the drums and keys work wonderfully and keep the entire album in line and on point. Overall, the guitars and bass are back ground music, with the exception of a few tracks where they are exceptionally executed.

I didn't mention the vocals much either, as they tell the story of the Pirate. They are almost spoken in a way that makes them musical. They are perfect for the type of music OL' JOLLY ROGER is writing, but have no tone alternations.

Overall, the album is a fun listen and as stated earlier, if you like Folk Metal, you will probably like this album. It is a good addition to the Folk lover's collection. There are many areas where you can hear the musicianship.