''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 Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later ...

. The album was recorded at Krabi Road, Thailand with the band's long-time producer Lasse Lammert. It was preceded by four

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s: "Treasure Chest Party Quest", "Tortuga", "Fannybaws" and "Pirate Metal Drinking Crew".

Background and recording

The album was recorded at Krabi Road, Thailand with producer Lasse Lammert in January 2020. The album was mixed and mastered in the LSD Studios in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, Germany in February 2020. The music videos for the singles were filmed alongside the album in Thailand back in January. The band had seventeen shows in the summer that had to be cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Speaking with Metal Injection about the lyrics in the album, lead vocalist Christopher Bowes stated:

Composition

Like previous Alestorm albums, ''Curse of the Crystal Coconut'' has been described as

pirate metal Pirate metal is a style of heavy metal music characterized by its incorporation of pirate mythology within the music and sometimes in stage performances. Lyrics often use piratical jargon and various musical genres, such as thrash metal, speed ...

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

, heavy metal, and

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 ...

. In a review of the album, ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' considered "Treasure Chest Party Quest," "Fannybaws" and "Pirate's Scorn" "

o have O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...

some of the hookiest choruses in the band's catalogue." While describing the song "Treasure Chest Party Quest," ''Outburn'' stated, "the fact that the song emerges from behind a veil of 80s

cock rock Cock rock is a genre of rock music that emphasizes an aggressive form of male sexuality. The style developed in the later 1960s, came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, and continues into the present day. Characteristics Cock rock is a m ...

with the usual folk metal adjunct and a bellowing

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 ...

vocal staccato is an indication from the off that Alestorm is flirting with reinvention and doing it as absurdly as imaginable." ''Outburn'' also described the song “Wooden Leg Part 2 (The Woodening)” as "an eight minute, multi-faceted take on prog metal storytelling accented by mournful

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) *Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *''Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video game ...

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

blackness à la

Bal-Sagoth Bal-Sagoth ( /baʊl 'sægɑθ/ ''b-owl SA-goth'') were a symphonic black metal band from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1993. Originally formed as an epic symphonic black metal band with strong death metal elements, vocalist/lyrici ...

and even smidges of

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 ...

. They even described “Call of the Waves” as 'the band's most serious moment of its career." Metal Injection notes thrash-like riffs on the songs "Chomp Chomp" and "Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship". The song "Tortuga" has been described as pop,

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 ...

, and

rap metal Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock and alternative metal music which combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables. History Origins and early ...

because of the rap verse by Captain Yarrface. The song "Pirate's Scorn" is a version of a song that appeared in the ''

Donkey Kong Country ''Donkey Kong Country'' is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' franchise and follows the gorilla Donkey Kong and h ...

'' animated series, from the episode "Booty and the Beast".

Release

On 8 January 2020, the band announced the title of their sixth studio album, "Curse of the Crystal Coconut," to be released in the summer of 2020. The band later announced that the album would be released on 29 May 2020. On 2 April 2020, the band released the first single from the album titled, "Treasure Chest Party Quest", along with a music video. On 23 April 2020, the band released the second single from the album titled, "Tortuga" featuring Captain Yarrface, along with a music video. On 30 April 2020, the band released an EP titled, "The Treasure Chest EP". The EP features two songs that are on this album and three live versions of songs from their previous albums. On 14 May 2020, the band released the third single from the album titled, "Fannybaws", along with a music video. On 29 May 2020, the band released the fourth single from the album titled, "Pirate Metal Drinking Crew", along with a music video. The band also did a giveaway for people who preordered the album. With the giveaway, the winner would get an Alestorm-branded

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

along with a copy of

Donkey Kong 64 ''Donkey Kong 64'' is a 1999 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the first 3D game in the ''Donkey Kong'' series. As the gorilla Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, the player e ...

. On 6 July 2020, the band released an animated music video for the song, "Shit Boat (No Fans)". The video was animated by people at

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. 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" Single which are "Big Ship Little Ship" and "Bassline Junkie". The song "Big Ship Little Ship" got a music video. On 31 January 2022, the band released a music video for the song "Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship".

Reception

''Curse of the Crystal Coconut'' received generally positive reviews from critics. Jason Roche of ''

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...

'' called the album "another indicator that the secret behind the band's longevity is their stellar knack for never letting the overall themes drown out the catchiness of their song-craft." In a positive review, Alan Faulkner of ''Distorted Sound'' stated, "the lyrics may be silly and some of the songs are a bit out there, but that is what Alestorm are about – having fun and enjoying the music." Manus Hopkins of ''

'' gave the album a positive review stating, "it's incredible that Alestorm haven't run out of pirate riffs and lyrics about drinking, pillaging and sailing the seas, but this record is packed with all those and even more." Holly Wrigh of ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' called the album "another gem in the Scots’ steadily improving repertoire of jolly, foul-mouthed metal shanties that go far beyond the confines of gimmickry." Max Morin, writing for ''Metal Injection'', was also positive, calling "

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

another killer addition to a packed roster and is dying to be played lived." Mike Elfers of ''Punknews'' called the album "eleven tracks of their signature pirate metal" and recommended it to "anyone that likes drinking and/or fun." ''

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technolog ...

'' called the album an improvement "on the uneven songwriting that made

No Grave But the Sea ''No Grave But the Sea'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm, released on 26 May 2017. It's the band's first album to feature guitarist Máté Bodor since the departure of Dani Evans in 2015. Track listing A bonus d ...

a modest disappointment..." Nick Balazs of ''Brave Words'' praised the album calling it "more consistent than past efforts." He also stated that since the band has "continued to embrace their silliness, it has resulted in stronger song development and even short tracks, like the foul-mouthed, but musically elegant 1-minute “Shit Boat (No Fans)” and the under 3-minute, accordion led, “Pirate’s Scorn” retain credibility and better yet, flow brilliantly within the context of the album." ''Deadpress'' and ''Ghost Cult Magazine'' were less positive. Carlos Zelaya of ''Deadpress'' described the album " sone of many examples of hollow, empty vessels having the most loudest, unbearable resonations." Gary Alcock of ''Ghost Cult Magazine'' was slightly more positive stating, "...Curse of the Crystal Coconut does feature some gloriously stupid moments and a few seriously catchy hooks, but like the Indiana Jones movie with a similar title, the lack of ideas apparent on certain tracks suggests the joke might finally ewearing thin, even with the band themselves."

Track listing

Notes * All production, mixing, and mastering by Lasse Lammert. * Track listing and credits from the CD Booklet. * "Pirate's Scorn" is a cover of a song from the ''

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...

. * "Henry Martin" is the band's cover of a traditional Scottish

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

of the same name.

Deluxe version

The deluxe version of the album includes the normal track listing, along with what is referred to as "16th Century Version" editions of each track afterwards. These are

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...

styled recreations of the tracks with bitcrushed vocals.

Wooden box set

The wooden box set included two bonus tracks on a 7" single, which are "Big Ship Little Ship" and "Bassline Junkie". Singer Christopher Bowes said on a livestream listening party on Napalm Records' YouTube channel that these two songs along with other bonus tracks from past Alestorm albums would be released on Spotify some point in the future.

Personnel

Credits for ''Curse of the Crystal Coconut'' Alestorm * Christopher Bowes –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

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 ...

* Máté Bodor –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s * Gareth Murdock – bass * Elliot Vernon –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

unclean vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

* Peter Alcorn –

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 ...

Additional * Captain Yarrface – rap vocals on "Tortuga" * Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns – unclean vocals on "Chomp Chomp" * Fernando Rey – vocals on "Wooden Leg Pt. 2 (The Woodening)" * Kaelhakase & Tatsuguchi – vocals on "Wooden Leg Pt. 2 (The Woodening)" * Ally Storch –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s *

Patty Gurdy Patricia Büchler (born 1997), known professionally as Patty Gurdy, is a German hurdy-gurdy musician, singer, songwriter and vlogger. Early life and career Büchler was born in 1997. She lived in Düsseldorf while she studied there and graduat ...

– vocals on "Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship" and

hurdy gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

on "Chomp Chomp", "Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship", "Call of the Waves", "Henry Martin", and "Big Ship Little Ship" * Tobias Hain –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

* Jan Philipp Jacobs –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Phil Philp & Emma Phillips – backing vocals * Joe Carter-Hawkins – backing vocals on "Tortuga" * Matthew Bell –

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

on "Tortuga" * Ben Turk – additional synthesizers & vocal tuning on "Tortuga" Production * Lasse Lammert –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, mixing, mastering * Dan Goldsworthy –

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control Alestorm albums Donkey Kong Napalm Records albums 2020 albums