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Pirate Metal

Airaux

By Airaux
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Airaux Rookie

Airaux

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  Anyone like to share any news and/ or opinions about Pirate Metal.  When I first came across it, it seemed like a joke, but I came across "Alestorm" and I was taken by their enthusiasm, camaraderie and power.  I soon came to think of the situation as a "valid" form.  I seemed to be like classic metal, but in a nautical context.

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SurgicalBrute Mentor

SurgicalBrute

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Honestly, never really saw this as an actual thing so much as some people just trying to make it a thing...kind of like people trying to get a meme to trend. It's not like "viking metal" where you've got a thousand bands running around making music about Scandinavian history and Norse gods. You've basically got Alestorm, Swashbuckle, Running Wild and that's about it....and while I very much enjoy Running Wild, I don't think the limited amount of band participation is enough to justify a new category

 

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SurgicalBrute Mentor

SurgicalBrute

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I actually did almost make note that there were probably more, but I didn't think it really mattered to my overall point, which is that I really don't think there's enough bands out their playing pirate themed heavy metal to really justify it as it's own category. I mean, even catalog sites like Last.Fm and Rate Your Music struggle to come up with more than a few dozen.

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SurgicalBrute Mentor

SurgicalBrute

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Truthfully, because it doesn't serve any real purpose beyond being a marketing gimmick.

Now, for the record, I find quibbling about what can and can't constitute a "category" to be kind of pedantic. It's basically the equivalent of "is to...is not"

So let me just say, you are more than welcome to call anything you want a category for any reason, no one is stopping you. Whether I find validity in that category is completely up to me. I personally don't find the need to create a separate designation for what amounts to a small handful of bands, that musically have nothing in common beyond a general lyrical theme. If and when it ever becomes an actual trend large enough in my mind to justify needing a unique classification, I'll be more than happy to reconsider

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Karambit Contributor

Karambit

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You know, I've never delved into this genre. Don't know what has been stopping me from doing so really. There's bound to be some fantastic bands out there, guess I'll have to look for them.

As for it being a fad, that may not be the case for much longer. Would be interesting to see it evolve.

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GoatmasterGeneral Grand Master

GoatmasterGeneral

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40 minutes ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Truthfully, because it doesn't serve any real purpose beyond being a marketing gimmick.

Now, for the record, I find quibbling about what can and can't constitute a "category" to be kind of pedantic. It's basically the equivalent of "is to...is not"

So let me just say, you are more than welcome to call anything you want a category for any reason, no one is stopping you. Whether I find validity in that category is completely up to me. I personally don't find the need to create a separate designation for what amounts to a small handful of bands, that musically have nothing in common beyond a general lyrical theme. If and when it ever becomes an actual trend large enough in my mind to justify needing a unique classification, I'll be more than happy to reconsider.

 

Oh but it serves a useful purpose. If I see something has been tagged "pirate metal" it lets me know not to slow down and look, but to just keep it moving.

I've always thought of sub-genres as very personal things, and if someone wants to tag bands as pirate metal or viking metal or celtic metal or fireman metal or sci-fi metal or rainy day metal or porcupine metal wtf do I care? I have all my Overkill albums' genre tagged as "blood metal" in my MusicBee. I don't see a problem as long as you understand that you can't expect the rest of the world to go along and start using all your silly made up sub-genres. 

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SurgicalBrute Mentor

SurgicalBrute

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9 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I don't see a problem as long as you understand that you can't expect the rest of the world to go along and start using all your silly made up sub-genres.

Honestly, I wasn't even saying it was a problem...it was more that I just don't think pirate metal is really a thing. I mean, "viking metal" for all it's vagueness used to at least loosely mean a band that crossed some degree of black metal with folk, while covering themes of Norse myth and viking stories in their lyrics. 

32 minutes ago, Karambit said:

There's bound to be some fantastic bands out there, guess I'll have to look for them.

Well, according to Metal Archives there's less than 100, so shouldn't take too long

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GoatmasterGeneral Grand Master

GoatmasterGeneral

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How about porch pirate metal, has anyone invented that yet?

Outsmart holiday porch pirates with these 4 smart devices | Lowe's Corporate

2 minutes ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Honestly, I wasn't even saying it was a problem...it was more that I just don't think pirate metal is really a thing.

It's not a thing, at least not afaic but neither is 'groove metal' for that matter and good luck trying to get people to stop using that one. 

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