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I didn't much care for Grimgott's Lions of the Sea album from 2017 and its collection of sea shanty drenched power metal songs and, if anything, I like their newest, Tales, Sagas, & Legends even less. All the problems from the last album are here, from the whiny, warbling vocals and cringy vocal lines to the heavy-handed Alestorm/Running Wild vibe emphasized by the use of the squeeze box (synthesized, in all likelihood), sound effects of howling winds and creaking ropes, etc. And OK, power metal comes with a certain level of cheese, I get it, I'm a power metal fan, but the lyrics go well past cheese and are plain silly. The protagonist is from the island of Boobia? Are these guys all twelve? And don't get me started on the narrator's blathering in an overly affected accent on "The Lost Chapters". Some of the songs aren't bad though they certainly aren't anything to write home about, but then you get the faux drama of "The Edge of the World" where the band tries to sound epic and Tolkien-esque but ends up evoking Wuthering Heights after they went off the rails with Salt.

There will always be room for pirate-themed power metal, the subject matter is too much of a perfect foil for the music. Grimgotts is offering us a parody of something that is already close to parody meaning there is no reason not to grab a copy of Port Royal or Captain Morgan's Revenge and be done with it.