You wouldn’t think, with heavy metal being only five or six years away from turning 50, that bands would be able to find new ways to headbang. But they reliably do.
Scotland’s Alestorm (pictured) has adopted a pirate theme, in their image, their marketing, and their music. This “swashbuckling crew” incorporates some of its folk roots into its power metal sound.
And while the band indulges on broad, tongue-in-cheek humor that encourages the audience to play along and get rowdy to its “drunken singalong anthems” (it recently released a version of the Village People hit “In the Navy”), its actual music is perfectly serious.
It’s currently paired on tour with Norwegian folk metal band Trollfest, which plays a similar game, only with their own native folk music and their own native form of metal — black metal.
They too encourage celebratory drinking. They weave accordion and bouzouki into a metallic base and sing in a made-up language that combines Norwegian and German for a sound that’s truly unhinged.
The two bands will be at the Agora Ballroom, along with Gypsyhawk, a classic ’70s-style hard rock trio from Southern California who will sound oddly normal in contrast to the two headliners.
Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door.