What do we have here ? With a name like The Privateer, a ship with the Jolly Roger flag in high tide artwork, it wouldn't have been difficult to guess there would be Pirates into the mix. I thought this German band maybe something acking to Running Wild, and I wasn't too far off.

Basically imagine if Running Wild and Ensiferum had an offspring, well that offspring could very well be called The Privateer. The guitars and pirate melodies remind me of Running Wild and Iron Maiden (for the memorable guitar melodies) while the harsh vocals parts (there are some clean vocals too) and folk elements steer me more towards Ensiferum or Suidakra. And to tell you the truth I was somehow surprised by this melpot of style, the fusion of Power Metal, Melodeath, clean and harsh vocals, strong folk elements to achieve this sort of Pirate Melodeath. The guitar melodies found on this album can be nothing short of spectacular, and the songs are quite progressive in their structure. The song Last Journey is a perfect example of this. While I love the clean and harsh vocal mix in most bands, I must admit that when The Privateer is concerned, I prefer their harsh ones (even if they sound mostly throaty). It's not that the clean ones are bad, but they are typical and lack power in my humble opinion of course (there are actually both male and female clean vocals). The folk elements in violin (present throughout the album), piano and other instruments are really welcomed and give The Privateer a really personal sound mind you, even though I compared them to known bands, I believe the band has a sound of their own. Songs are usually long and always infused with strong riffing, great to amazing guitar melodies and always present folkish mood. The overall music tends to be quite epic as well from time to time, and I must admit that with every listen this bands grows stronger in my heart. If you like over the top guitar melodies, strong riffing, some double bass drumming (there are also mid-tempo moments mixed in), then you must listen to The Privateer. It's not to say that all is perfect, I believe the parts sung by both male and female clean vocals aren't powerful enough, and strong choirs instead would have a better and more epic impact I believe. But maybe for the next release :).

A great surprise from first listen and one that grows with every successive one. With every little subtle touches like some classic guitars thrown in for good measure in Descent of Hades for example, married with the violin and the epic choirs and overwhelming ultra melodic guitars, gives this band not only a great mix of two styles but actually a sound of their own. One that really makes me shiver at times, and that's no small feat (I know my backlog of reviews doesn't play in my favor on this one :D). At the end of that 7:25 minutes long masterpiece of a song, all vocals are layered at one point (both clean and harsh) and it does sound really great at that moment. There are some moments that don't always work too well unfortunately, like in Basilisk where I found that the clean vocals don't work at all and make it a rather lackluster and even boring at times (that is until melodic guitars come in to save the ship from wreckage). There is something that needs to be done with these clean vocals (I say get rid of them mostly, the throaty ones are ten times better !). A great album, with some really strong moments, some great song, amazing guitar melodies and always folky mood. If the band can learn to play on and develop their strong points (guitars riffs and melodies, throaty vocals, folk & strong rhythm section) and eliminates their weaker points (clean vocals) or at least limit them to the strict minimum they could very well become something quite amazing. I would also maybe use a tad less the violin, as it tends to be there all the time (I'd rather see some more orchestral strings in some parts). But for the time being this debut album shows a lot of promise with some really magical moments. I can't wait to listen to more of The Privateer.