{"id":103922,"date":"2024-09-19T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T23:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=103922"},"modified":"2024-09-20T09:47:05","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T08:47:05","slug":"album-review-cutlass-walk-the-plank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-cutlass-walk-the-plank\/","title":{"rendered":"CUTLASS – Walk The Plank (2024) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

CUTLASS
Walk The Plank<\/strong><\/span>
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\nSelf-released (2024)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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If ever there was a band that needed to change their name it was Pirates Of Metal. This UK metal act began life in 2003 then dissolved in 2008 before returning just a couple of years ago. I guess the back story is somewhat irrelevant as recorded output didn\u2019t emerge until 2022 with the Cuts From The Deep<\/em> EP where the band still appeared under the dreadful Pirates Of Metal moniker. I think the name change to Cutlass will do them good, but surely the subject of pirates has been done to death? Even so, this is a solid debut album and if you have the patience or a penchant for pirate metal then you\u2019ll enjoy this.<\/p>\n

What really drew me in was the rich guitar sound, a warm, nostalgic and often comforting tide that reminds me of some of the 80s Noise International releases from the likes of Running Wild and Scanner, alongside Judas Priest, especially on \u2018Blood In The Water\u2019 with its varying tempos. You\u2019ll get a good, strong mix of heroic gallops bolstered by Teutonic steel, but where the band really comes into its own is with the crunchier mid-tempo grooves, such as on the killer \u2018No Escape\u2019.<\/p>\n

Horns up to drummer Milan Jejina for a burly performance throughout, especially on \u2018The Kraken\u2019. What this track also proves is that Cutlass are not just hell-bent on seafaring tales of contraband and ale. Instead, \u2018The Kraken\u2019 is a brooding yarn of a monstrous legend \u2019neath waves, and this is where the gruff mid-range vocals of Ewan MacKay come to the fore. An acquired taste for some, MacKay\u2019s steady growls, although somewhat limited, do bring a gritty charm as if he were some weathered sea captain barking orders between gulps of salty air and a tankard of beery sediment.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, not all the tracks on deck are as annoying as I thought they might be, although the opening shanty metal chords of \u2018We Came For The Battle (We Stayed For The Beer)\u2019 is predictable tomfoolery. But even with obvious titles such as \u2018Walk The Plank\u2019 and \u2018Quest For Treasure\u2019, the musicianship remains steadfast and serious, especially when the guys slap you with the thrashy \u2018Buried At Sea\u2019. It\u2019s just a pity there weren\u2019t more cuts of this design.<\/p>\n

So enjoyable are the romps here I tend to overlook some of the teenage lyrics and instead opt for a hearty jig by the fire. I expected a powder-puff pantomime villain, but instead I received a punch from an old sea dog. Ahoy there!.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CUTLASSWalk The Plank Self-released (2024)Rating: 7\/10 If ever there was a band that needed to change their name it was Pirates Of Metal. This UK metal act began life in 2003 then dissolved in 2008 before returning just a couple of years ago. I guess the back story is somewhat irrelevant as recorded output didn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5781],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-cutlass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103923,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103922\/revisions\/103923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}