Skull Branded Pirates – An Oath Sworn on Broken Bones

Looking at the band’s name and the title of the album you may be led to thinking that this is all about pirates, and you would be very correct in that assessment.  Everything about the album from the title, to the lyrics, to the artwork is all heading in that direction, so if pirate metal is your preferred style, then this looks to be an album for you.

I really like the artwork on the CD itself; with skeleton hands and the band’s logo it is reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean, but hey, it works.  This extends to the artwork on the album cover, which really suits the theme of the music and would make me pick it up off the shop shelves to have a look.

There are some good aspects to this album; I like the sounds of battle that lead into the first track and the speed of the vocals in various songs, some of which sound as if the words are tripping over themselves, as if they are in a hurry to be heard.   Throw in some nice bass parts and you’ve got a good start which continues with some nifty guitar work throughout, which is for me, is probably the highlight of the album.

There are some amusing lyrics throughout and a real good speed to some of the songs, and Drink Till Dawn is a good example of this and keeps it’s speed throughout the almost 5 ½ minutes.  However, (and I hate to type the word however), though there are ‘raw’ elements in parts which would normally be a good thing, to me they just sound unfinished as opposed to raw.  Also, though there are some amusing lyrics, there are also some that instead just don’t amuse me….at all.  I’m all for a bit of pirate themed metal and music, and I tried to get into this album, but it just didn’t work for me.  It was pirate overload and didn’t sound complete, with the vocals not holding it together throughout.  Normally I will listen to an album several times and with each listen I’ll become more and more immersed in it, but this time it was the opposite.  It’s definitely not one that would make my play list.

But the best thing about music is that it’s subjective, and so try it for yourself and if you do, may I suggest Man The Cannons and Drink Till Dawn as a good starting point.

Track List

1. 1684
2. Man The Cannons
3. Masters of the Trade
4. The Ballad of One-Tooth McGuyver
5. Straight Outta Kingston (Doin’ it for the booty)
6. An Oath sworn on Broken Bones
7. The Three Trials
8. Free the Slaves
9. Drink Till Dawn