Review: Rumahoy “Time II: Party” [Napalm Records]

The self-proclaimed “Best True Scottish Pirate Metal Band In The World”, Rumahoy after quite a short time release their second album, appropriately named Time II: Party.

Here my inner nerd tells that musically Rumahoy can’t be fully classified as Pirate Metal, if we’re talking for example Running Wild as a benchmark. But nowadays the frames of this genre are blurred so much, that in theory every Metal band can get be called Pirate Metal if it has some pirate lyrics, especially with chants like “ooga-chaka” or “yo-ho-ho” and Rumahoy has this in abundance.

Of course, there is a lot of humor in the band’s lyrics, in any form of it (including some outright vulgarity and toilet jokes), bragging (which is self-irony, actually) and many other things. And musicians are aware what do they do: you can pick any song and it will invariably cause you smiling; coupled with catchy melodies it becomes a really good thing.

However, most of parody bands have not only jokes but a really good music also. Take Tenacious D, Nanowar Of Steel or Gloryhammer, there are really great musicians in this bands and if we’re taking the parody aspect away, music will be still interesting. Rumahoy is slightly different: they mix, let’s say, Power Metal with Folk and Sea Shanti, but it can’t be said that music defies the imagination. Rumahoy make it in a different way, with memorable motives and catchy choruses, which are great for sing along and pretty hard to get them out of your head.

Actually, from the very first song “Cowboys Of The Sea” it’s clear what to expect from this album: mockingly epic intro, heavy guitar riff in a way with accordion that makes half-sea, half-folk mood and some bells in a chorus (exactly that case when devil is in details). Vocalist Captain Yarrface isn’t sing but roaring the lyrics, but I need to commend his elocution. All in all, it is really dashing pirate song. The same thing happens in catchy from the very first note “Time To Party”, “The Legend Of Captain Yarrface” (you can’t hold the laugh when Captain starts to enumerate Pirate Metal bands) and pretty vulgar “Full Mast” (sea/pirate metaphors here are really good). “Harambe The Pirate Gorrilla” is lowering the intensity of mockery because of the theme: here you’ll need to recall an accident in Cincinnati Zoo and memes from 2016. And the “Treasure Gun” with simple Shanti melody and preposterous lyrics just made for the good bender with drunken singing.

At the same time, there is some diversity in Time II: Party: fast pace of “The Beer From My Town Is Better Than Yours” takes the music to Punk and in “1000 Years Of Dust” some pretty good Power Metal can be heard along with some Oriental motives, which is quite unexpected from such album. But the most sudden track here is “Poop Deck Party” – yes, exactly, toilet humor and all the stuff with some kind of pop/eurodance music and rappering from Gloryhammer and Alestorm founder Christopher Bowes (although Captain Yarrface calls him “Little Boy Bowes”).

The album ends with “Stolen Song”, the Alestorm‘s cover for “Drink” with changed lyrics where Rumahoy apparently mockeries on their scene colleagues but it’s actually nothing but self-irony.

I personally love humor in many ways and forms, especially in Metal music: it’s quite rare and valuable because of that. Nevertheless, if you can’t accept vulgarity and other “below the belt” humor don’t even get close to this album. But if you accept such things, you definitely need to listen to Time II: Party. It will certainly make you smile, that’s valuable in our tough times.

Time II: Party will be released on July, 17th via Napalm Records.