If you’ve ever found yourself thinking that, while great, ALESTORM just isn’t crazy enough, we have a band for you. RUMAHOY takes the pirate trope to the absolute extreme level of ridiculousness and really only cares about having fun. After releasing “Time II: Party” independently last year, the band is now re-releasing this crazy pirate record through Napalm records on 17 July 2020.
With the album’s title being an obvious mockery of WINTERSUN, the band lets you know right away that nothing about this record should be taken seriously. The album begins with a somewhat introductory song, “Cowboys of the Sea.” And yes, it does have a bit of a country feel to it – imagine a rotting pirate ship hitting some hay bales. Other than that, the song is simple and catchy, which is somewhat of a pattern with this record.
“Treasure Gun” is a song I’d annoyed everyone with last year already when it was first released and it’s still profoundly annoying – but I kind of love it and I’m only somewhat ashamed to say that. The vocalist, Captain Yarrface, can sing about as well as rum barrel on a ship in a storm, but it actually works with his pirate captain persona.
Naturally, the man, the myth, the legend that is Captain Yarrface also has a biographical song on the album where he makes sure to tell us all that he’s number one… and a bottle of rum. I don’t know how that makes sense either, but it’s a rhyme? I will say it does take actual talent to write lyrics this bad. Being deliberately awful takes being great first.
Remember 2016 when the world was a much simpler place and there was a gorilla that was popular for a while? Unfortunately, RUMAHOY does and they made a song about it: “Harambe the Pirate Gorilla.” There’s a slight chance this song might cause an undead pirate gorilla uprising, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Musically, the song is pretty decent, even if simplistic, as is the norm in pirate-themed metal. The guitars and drums sound good throughout the album and the production is well done, with Captain Yarrface on vocals being the obvious weak spot in the music.
The album has a guest appearance from Christopher Bowes of ALESTORM on truly the worst song of the album, “Poop Deck Party,” which is about exactly what you think it’s about. Strangely, despite being lyrically completely juvenile, the song is actually somewhat interesting in that it strays from the album’s sound and instead has electronic dance instrumentals and rapping from Bowes. “The Beer from My Town is Better Than Yours” is a clear mockery of Kelis‘ hit “Milkshake,” which I just had to rewatch for the sake of this article, yet all I remember is there was a lot of sexual innuendo and it actually makes RUMAHOY‘s song sound decent.
If you’ll allow me to get a bit technical for a second amidst this frivolity, “1000 Years of Dust” actually has a really interesting beginning with a fittingly nice touch of Egyptian rhythms, as it’s where the song’s story is placed. The piece has a cool addition of a sort of muffled spoken part and playful guitar work and it’s definitely one of the best on the album.
What could be a more fitting end to this release than an almost copy-pasted version of ALESTORM‘s “Drink” titled “Stolen Treasure”? The band didn’t even bother changing the lyrics too much in true pirate fashion because why would one write their own pirate hits? If they get sued though, they promise to drink some rum.
Pushing the ridiculousness to the absolute fullest has seemingly become a new trend in pirate-themed metal and RUMAHOY has definitely won that game with this release. It’s hard to say this release is anything but awful, but it’s also great. It’s in fact so bad that you have to admire the skill of the band to make such a mockery of the already hilarious niche subgenre that is pirate metal.
Written by Didrik Mešiček
Tracklist
- Cowboys of the Sea
- Time to Party
- Treasure Gun
- The Legend of Captain Yarrface
- Harambe the Pirate Gorilla
- Poop Deck Party
- The Beer From My Town Is Better Than Yours
- 1000 Years of Dust
- Full Mast
- Stolen Treasure
Lineup
Captain Yarrface – vocals
Bootsman Walktheplank – guitars
Cabinboy Treasurequest – bass
Swashbuckling Pete – drums
Label
Napalm Records
Links
https://rumahoy.xyz/
https://www.facebook.com/rumahoy/
https://www.instagram.com/rumahoy/
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