Under Jolly Roger-Running Wild

 Now I am reviewing another pirate metal band, this time it is the Pirate pioneers Running Wild. Their album Under Jolly Roger pretty much kicked off the pirate metal album. This album has a cool raw and raunchy sound that makes the music seem dirty and scratchy and thus very piratey. The guitar is powerful and a main player in the music. The bass is solid and uninspired however it does a good job keeping time with the drums. The vocals are nice and growly, and there are extremely piratey lyrics. All together the different aspects of this album create a rather piratey feel, however it is not as piratey as Alestorm for example. Still this is a good album with some nice guitar solos.

The guitar on this album has a classic power metal feel. The majority of the riffs are textbook power metal. They are not overly amazing but they are still good enough to merit some honor. The solos are average at best they do not feature any amazing fills that would go on to define music. No, this album just has some solid power metal riffs with some mildly cool intro solos. The bass is solid but not overly inspiring it just comes off as kinda, meh. The drums are actually pretty good they have some good basic fills, however they do get repetitive. Overall the instrumentalists on this album are good but nothing to rave about.

The vocals are made up of light death growls. They are very reminiscent of the pirate days of the 1600's. There is something of a old man of the sea feel to them. Unfortunately they do not feel very realistic, possibly because the singer can not do a good accent that can mimic a true pirate. The quality of his growls is okay and the lyrics are easily intelligible. The lyrics are the true redeeming point of this album. They are pretty original and gave influence to many pirate metal bands. This band planted the idea that we should base metal off the coolest people ever, pirates. Asides from the lyrics this band is only an average metal band.

Overall this is an okay album with killer lyrics that make it awesome. The guitar is okay, it does not have any mind blowing solos or riffs but it does alright for itself. The bass is steady but uninspired and makes the music boring. The drums have some creativity but on this album its not uncommon to hear the same fill for a full minute. The vocals are okay but nothing to rave over, the best part about this album is the lyrics and without the lyrics this album would be like 4/10. All in all this album is okay at best however it is important for planting the seeds of an idea that would go on to create an awesome genre.

OVERALL 6/10