Alestorm are a Scottish heavy metal band formed in

Perth, Scotland Perth (Scottish English, locally: ; gd, Peairt ) is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population o ...

. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a " pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists of lead vocalist/

keytar The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboard ...

ist Christopher Bowes, bassist Gareth Murdock, drummer Peter Alcorn, keyboardist/harsh vocalist Elliot Vernon and guitarist Máté "Bobo" Bodor. After signing to Napalm Records in 2007, their debut album '' Captain Morgan's Revenge'', was released on 25 January 2008. ''

Black Sails at Midnight ''Black Sails at Midnight'' is the second studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm. As with their first album, all the drums tracks were recorded by session drummer Migo Wagner but touring drummer Ian Wilson added additional percussi ...

'', the band's second album, was released on 27 May 2009. The band's third album, ''

Back Through Time ''Back Through Time'' is the third studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm. It was released on 3 June 2011 by Napalm Records and is the first Alestorm recording to feature Gareth Murdock on bass and Peter Alcorn on drums.

'', was released on 3 June 2011. The fourth album from the band, ''

Sunset on the Golden Age ''Sunset on the Golden Age'' is the fourth album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm. It was released on 1 August 2014 by Napalm Records. It is the band's first album to feature new permanent band member, Elliot Vernon, on keyboards and the l ...

,'' was released in August 2014. Their fifth album '' No Grave But the Sea'' was released on 26 May 2017. Their sixth album, ''

Curse of the Crystal Coconut ''Curse of the Crystal Coconut'' is the sixth studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm. It was released on 29 May 2020 via Napalm Records. The album was recorded at Krabi Road, Thailand with the band's long-time producer Lasse Lammert ...

'', was released on 29 May 2020. Their seventh and most recent album, ''

Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum ''Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum'' is the seventh studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm. It was released on 24 June 2022 via Napalm Records. The album title is a reference to Iron Maiden's 1988 album ''Seventh Son of a Seventh Son''. ...

'' was released on 24 June 2022. The band has also released one live album and five EPs. The lead vocalist Christopher Bowes provides the announcer voice for the Pirate team in the video game ''

Pirates, Vikings and Knights II ''Pirates, Vikings and Knights II'' is a multiplayer team-based first-person action video game, developed as a total conversion modification on Valve proprietary Source engine. The game is currently in beta development stages, with its first pu ...

''.

History

Battleheart and origins (2004–2007)

The band was founded in 2004 in Perth, Scotland as Battleheart, a studio project by Christopher Bowes and Gavin Harper. Originally intended as a standard power metal band, the success of song "Heavy Metal Pirates" convinced the band to permanently adopt a pirate theme and incorporate folk metal elements into their music. Gavin and Christopher recorded & released two independent demos in 2006, which were received well by the local metal community. The band began to perform live in 2006, with a lineup consisting of Bowes (vocals and

), Harper (guitars), Dani Evans (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

) and Doug Swierczek (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

). Doug Swierczek eventually left the band later that year and was replaced by Ian Wilson. After a period of inactivity, in late 2007 Battleheart sent their demos to Napalm Records, and the band was promptly offered a record deal.

Alestorm (2007–present)

After being signed by Napalm Records, the band changed their name from Battleheart to Alestorm. Their debut studio album, '' Captain Morgan's Revenge'', was released in early 2008. The album featured the drummer of the band Incubator, Migo Wagner as the session drummer. The album was also produced by Incubator guitarist Lasse Lammert. Alestorm_Landscape_2017

In April 2008, the band released the single "Heavy Metal Pirates". Drummer Ian Wilson left in June 2008 and later rejoined in August of the same year. By September 2008, original guitarist Gavin Harper had left the band. Tim Shaw was Harper's replacement, but after a brief period of touring, was fired from the band. To fill the guitarist position, Dani Evans switched instruments from bass to guitar, and Gareth Murdock of Waylander joined as the replacement bassist. The band's second studio album

was released in May 2009. The album peaked at #60 on the GfK Entertainment charts. In March 2010, Ian Wilson left the band and was replaced with a new drummer named Peter Alcorn.
'Back Through Time' Album Details www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net
Official announcement of Alestorm's 3rd studio album (Facebook) Alestorm 'Back Through Time' Australian/ New Zealand Tour May 2011 www.soundworkstouring.com Alestorm's third album, ''

'', was Alcorn's first appearance on an Alestorm album. Alestorm went on a ''Back Through Time'' World Tour starting in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and New Zealand. The album reached #42 on the German Albums Chart.Alestorm - Back Through Time
/ref> In October 2011, Elliot Vernon joined the band as keyboard player and performing screamed / death metal vocals. The band released their fourth record entitled "Sunset on the Golden Age" on 1 August 2014, reaching the #1 position in the UK Rock Chart. Dani Evans retired from the band in April 2015, and was replaced by Hungarian guitarist Máté Bodor of the band Wisdom, who is also a part of Leander Kills. In October 2016, Christopher Bowes announced during a concert on the Super Smashed Turbo Tour that the band planned to begin recording a fifth studio album in January 2017. The fifth record, entitled " No Grave But the Sea", was released on 26 May 2017. The album peaked at #1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers Albums chart. On 8 January 2020, the band announced the title of their sixth studio album, "

". This was released on 29 May 2020. On 30 April, the band released an EP titled, "The Treasure Chest EP". Prior to the album's release, Alestorm released the singles "Treasure Chest Party Quest" on 2 April 2020, "Tortuga" (feat. Captain Yarrface of Rumahoy) on 23 April 2020, and "Fannybaws" on 14 May 2020. The fourth single for the album titled, "Pirate Metal Drinking Crew" was released on 29 May 2020. The album peaked at #68 on the Official Albums Chart. A deluxe version of the album includes the normal track listing, along with what is referred to as "''16th Century Version''" editions of each track was released. On 6 August, The Wooden Box was released and it included two bonus tracks on a 7-inch Single which are "Big Ship Little Ship" and "Bassline Junkie". On 28 May 2021, the band released their second live album, "Live in Tilburg". On 16 January 2022, the band announced that they entered the studio to record their seventh studio album, ''

''. On 31 January 2022, the band released a music video for the song "Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship", a song from their sixth album, "Curse of the Crystal Coconut". On 13 March 2022, the band announced that their seventh studio album will be released on 24 June 2022. On 6 April 2022, the band released the lead single, "Magellan's Expedition". On 4 May 2022, the band released the second single, "P.A.R.T.Y.". On 1 June 2022, the band released the third single, "The Battle of Cape Fear River. On 22 June 2022, the band released the fourth single, "Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum".

Musical style

Alestorm is generally classified as pirate metal, folk metal, power metal, heavy metal,

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, and folk. Alestorm has also included elements of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

, rap metal,

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

, progressive metal, thrash metal,

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

, cock rock,

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. Notable symphonic black metal bands include Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Carach Angren. History ...

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

, and

Finnish folk music The music of Finland can be roughly divided into categories of folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music. The folk music of Finland belongs to a broader musical tradition, that has been common amongst B ...

in their music. The band refer to themselves as "True Scottish Pirate Metal" and are identifiable by the pirate-themed lyrics in their songs. Alestorm's music utilizes the upbeat epic style of Scottish folk metal and power metal. Album recordings feature heavy use of real trumpets, trombones,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

s synths,

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

and tin whistle, violins, vibraslaps, brass,

s, and singalong choruses to convey a pirate

sea shanty A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...

feel. Alestorm's lyrical themes focus on pirates themes including, sailing, pillaging, and drinking. The band's later albums incorporate

screaming A scream is a loud speech production, vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal cords with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalisation. This can be performed by any creature possessing lungs, including human ...

and death growls performed by keyboard player Elliot Vernon, as well from guest vocalists such as

Ken Sorceron Abigail Williams is an American black metal band, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, but now based in Olympia, Washington. Since their formation in 2004, the group has suffered near-constant changes to their line-up. The band even disbanded in 200 ...

and

Mathias Lillmåns Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns is the vocalist for the Finnish folk metal band Finntroll, and has been since 2006. He is also the vocalist and the bassist for the bands Chthonian and Twilight Moon. In 2009 he and fellow Finntroll member Samuli Ponsi ...

Band members

Current members * Christopher Bowes – lead vocals,

(2004–present) * Gareth Murdock – bass, backing vocals (2008–present) * Peter Alcorn – drums (2010–present) * Elliot Vernon – keyboards, unclean vocals, backing vocals (2011–present) * Máté Bodor – guitars, backing vocals (2015–present) Former members * Gavin Harper – guitars (2004–2008) * Dani Evans – bass (2006–2008), guitars (2008–2015) * Doug Swierczek – drums (2006) * Ian Wilson – drums (2007–2008, 2008–2010) * Alex Tabisz – drums (2008) * Tim Shaw – guitars (2008) Touring musicians * Heri Joensen – vocals (2009) Session musicians * Brendan Casey – bass (2008), backing vocals (2008–present) * Migo "Oger Mampf" Wagner – drums (2008–2009) * Chris Mummelthey – backing vocals (2008) * Gordon Krei – programming, brass and orchestral arrangements (2009–present) * Tobias Hain – trumpet (2009–present) * Bee Bloodpunch – backing vocals (2009) * Austus Twele – great highland bagpipes (2009) * Heinrich Gimpel – bass trombone (2009) * Carsten Petersen – trumpet, cornet (2009) * Mirjam Beyer – violin (2009) * Florian Frambach – trumpet (2011) * Derek Fobaire – trombone (2011) * Hans-Jørgen Martinus Hansen – whistles (2011) * Maria Odvody – violin (2011) * Chris Jones (II) – accordion (2011) * Jan Philipp Jacobs – trombone (2017–present) File:Alestorm Rockharz 2018 07.jpg, Christopher Bowes File:Alestorm Rockharz 2018 01.jpg, Gareth Murdock File:Alestorm Rockharz 2018 06.jpg, Elliot Vernon File:Alestorm Rockharz 2018 15.jpg, Máté Bodor

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums * '' Captain Morgan's Revenge'' (2008) * ''

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2011) * ''

'' (2014) * '' No Grave But the Sea'' (2017) * ''

'' (2020) * ''

'' (2022)

Tours

* March 2008 – UK Tour supporting Turisas and Norther * October 2008 – "Ragnarok Aaskereia" European tour with Tyr, Hollenthon, Svartsot and Gwydion * February – March 2009 – "Pagan Knights" North American tour with Týr and

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* April – May 2009 – "Black Sails Over Europe" European tour supported by Tyr, Heidevolk and

Adorned Brood Adorned Brood is a German folk black metal band from Neuss, Germany. History (1993–2006) After the foundation in 1993, Adorned Brood recorded two demo tapes. They signed a contract to German music label Folter Records. They recorded thei ...

* September 2009 – "Paganfest" European tour with Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Unleashed, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Einherjer, Ex Deo and Swashbuckle * November 2009 – "Heathenfest" North American tour Eluveitie, Belphegor, Vreid, and Kivimetsan Druidi * December 2009 - UK tour with Eden's Curse and The Rotted. * February – March 2010 – "Paganfest" European tour with Finntroll, Eluveitie,

Dornenreich Dornenreich (up to ''Bitter ist's dem Tod zu dienen'' known as DornenReich) is an Austrian melodic black metal band, founded in 1996. Alongside their initial metal sound, Dornenreich also regard their music as being neofolk influenced. They have ...

, Varg and Arkona * June 2010 – "Plunder Down Under" Australian Tour supported by Claim the Throne * August – December 2010 – "World War Tour" European Tour supporting Sabaton * May 2011 – "Back Through Time" Australian Tour supported by Voyager * August 2011 – "Pandemonium Over North America" North American tour supporting Kamelot * September – October 2011 – "Heidenfest" European tour with

Turisas Turisas is a Finnish metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, and named after an ancient Finnish god of war. Turisas are a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal and symp ...

, Wintersun, Finntroll, Arkona, and Trollfest * February 2012 – "Useless Drunken Bastards" UK Tour supported by

Claim the Throne Claim the Throne are a melodic death band with strong folk metal influence, from Perth, Western Australia. In 2008 they released their debut album ''Only the Brave Return'' that also included a matching fantasy novel written by the band memb ...

and Darkest Era * April 2012 – "Paganfest" North American tour with Turisas and Arkona * September 2012 – "The Power Within" UK tour supporting DragonForce with

the Defiled The Defiled were a four-piece British band from London mixing groove-laden hardcore/metal with industrial music influences. They have been described by ''Kerrang!'' magazine as "The saviours of UK Metal" and championed by ''Metal Hammer'' as ...

* October 2012 – "The North American Enigma" North American tour with Epica and Insomnium * January 2013 – "Live at the End of the World" Australia and New Zealand tour * November – December 2013 – North American tour supported by Trollfest and Gypsyhawk * September 2014 – "Storming Across Europe" European Tour supported by Brainstorm, Crimson Shadows and Troldhaugen * October 2014 – "Piratefest" UK tour supported by Lagerstein, Red Rum, and Rainbowdragoneyes * January 2015 – "Piratefest" North American tour supported by Swashbuckle and the Dread Crew of Oddwood * November 2015 – "Piratefest" Australia and New Zealand tour supported by Lagerstein and Troldhaugen * February – March 2016 – "Heroes on Tour" Europe and UK co-headlining tour with Sabaton * October 2016 – "Super Smashed Turbo Tour" North American tour supported by Nekrogoblikon and Æther Realm * June – August 2017 – Vans Warped Tour North American tour * September – October 2017 – " No Grave But the Sea" headline European tour supported by

Æther Realm Æther Realm is an American heavy metal band from Greenville, North Carolina. Their music is a blend of melodic death metal and folk metal, with lyrical themes of fantasy and mythology. The band's influences include Wintersun and Children of Bod ...

and Troldhaugen * February 2018 – "Piratefest 2018" UK and Ireland tour supported by Rumahoy and the Dread Crew of Oddwood * August 2018 - Bloodstock Open Air Festival Saturday main stage * September 2018 - North American Tour supported by

Gloryhammer Gloryhammer (often stylized in all capital letters as GLORYHAMMER) is a British power metal band founded by keyboardist Christopher Bowes, lead vocalist of the band Alestorm. Each member of the band represents a character in the story concept. ...

* November - December 2018 - "Skälstorm European Tour" supported by

Skálmöld Skálmöld () is a Viking / folk metal band from Reykjavík, Iceland, formed in August 2009. The band's name is literally translated as ''Age of Swords'' and also means "lawlessness", referring to the Age of the Sturlungs of Icelandic history, w ...

* February 2019 - Australian Tour supported by Rumahoy * November 2021 - UK and Ireland Tour supported by Gloryhammer and Bootyard Bandits * June 2022 - Download Festival Sunday Main Stage

References

External links

*
Alestorm
at Napalm Records
Interview with Alestorm from Teeth of the Divine"ALESTORM Interview with Dani Evans"
''Xplosive Metal'', June 2011, Caroline Restiaux {{DEFAULTSORT:Alestorm Scottish folk metal musical groups Scottish power metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2004 Napalm Records artists Articles which contain graphical timelines Musical quintets Pirates in popular culture