Verbal Deception - Aurum Aetus Piraticus (The Golden Age of Piracy) Album Review

[Yoggi]

Verbal Deception are one of the first ever Pirate Metal bands (the only other being Running Wild, who lean more towards power metal anyway). They were formed in 2002, and hail from my home town of Calgary, Alberta. They were formed in 2002 and released a self titled EP in 2004 which sold only 500 copies and went fairly unnoticed. Their first full length album "Aurum Aetus Piraticus" which is a poor translation of "The Golden Age of Pirates" into Latin.

Lyrics:8
Vocals:10
Instrumentals: 7
Replay Value: 9
Overall: 9
Summary: The album is very solid on a whole, with no song bad, and all of them creative and original. Kresho Klarich, their vocalist, does an amazing job of capturing the spirit of the lyrics, and sounds like the perfect salty sea dog who would tell you the tales of pirates and plunder in a tavern late at night. The use of the bandoleon, a traditional instrument similar to an accordion makes the atmosphere of piracy complete.

Key Tracks

Pirate Attack
This song starts with the sounds of the sea, seagulls overhead, an accordion riff, and traces of wind in the sails. It then progresses quickly into a solid guitar riff and some interesting drumming. The seagulls can be heard again, and more throughout the song. Kresho opens up with his incredible and unique rasp and starts to tell you a tale of piracy!
Prospered are pirates/Shrewd to the bone/Aware of the worlds/And kings of the throne

Halls of Illusion
This song shows some of the best instrumentation of the album, with good progressions and transitions, as well as as some interesting high speed guitar riffs. The drumming is also interesting as there are some interesting off beat hi hat rhythms.
Walking through the halls of ancient times/Through the souls which do not exist
Gazing through the walls/Falling down to the ground/I'm foreshadowing my own destiny

The Temptress
This is the sort of "epic" song of the the album, but at 8:34, it doesn't struggle to keep attention and keeps to the point with out getting excessive (Ala some Dream Theater songs, A Change of Seasons and Octavarium are great, but they get a bit over the top). The song based around the idea of the Sirens who lured sailors to their death, but it is a bit of an adaptation on the idea. The song is progressive, and has solid instrumentals.
LIES!!
In the night I was betrayed
My gold, my jewels, all waylaid
I hunt her down, I make her pay
I wash my hands in blood this day!

Voyage(Available for download at www.myspace.com/verbaldeception)
This was the first song I heard from Verbal Deception, and it pulled me in right away. The songs combination of the accordion and odd guitar riffs and drum rhythms just makes it awesome. It is also the most "pirateish" song of the album featuring both the phrases "YOHOHO" and "YAAARGH!" which just makes it all the better.
YO HO HO
They rowed out bold and free
Voyages build the blood of men
To scavenge every sea

To conclude, Verbal Deception's first full length album is a strong shove to make themselves a niche. They are currently the biggest band in the Calgary metal scene, and I would be astonished if they were still unsigned by the time they release a second album. The album also comes with a Captains journal of the trip, with an accompanying map. There was a great amount of thought put into this album, and it paid off as the album comes off as very mature (not Disney peter pan pirateness).

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbal_Deception
http://www.myspace.com/verbaldeception 
verbaldeception.com

[MetalMusicMan]

Yoggi, you're the tits!

Another solid review, I'll be checking this band's music out on myspace tonight after I get done doing stuff with the woman and whatnot.

[Yoggi]

ever actually check them out?

[MetalMusicMan]

Yeah I checked 'em out on MySpace.  I listened to The Voyage and Temptress... It was interesting, the pirate-ie sounds were entertaining, but I'm not sure that it was all that impressive.  It seems like a really cool idea but I think the music needs to be refined quite a bit, or maybe it was the recording quality, I'm not sure.  At any rate, they sounded interesting at first, but didn't really hold my attention while I was listening to them.

I had high hopes and I was a little bit disappointed :\  Not terrible but not that fantastic either, from what I heard.  I don't think I'd give it a 9, but maybe I need to listen to the non-myspace versions of the songs first.

[Yoggi]

The temptress on the myspace isn't the full song, its the sample, and voyage has some odd transitions, album on a whole is solid and carries a good theme without becoming too repetitive.
I can send you some if you want via email

edit: also the 9 was based on relativity. It is a independently done first full length album and as a first effort, i was incredibly impressed, the only better first independent album that I have heard that was better was TBM's first album, Nothing and Nowhere

[x_Jester_x]

I have to agree partly with metalmusicman here. The songs that I listened to didnt run smoothly together with the transitions really sounding out of place - like speed bumps in a parking lot almost. I like the pirate idea though, it's quite entertaining. With practice these guys could get really good and overall as a first effort it was pretty good. A bit of refining is still needed though.

[MetalMusicMan]

I have to agree partly with metalmusicman here. The songs that I listened to didnt run smoothly together with the transitions really sounding out of place - like speed bumps in a parking lot almost. I like the pirate idea though, it's quite entertaining. With practice these guys could get really good and overall as a first effort it was pretty good. A bit of refining is still needed though.

Aye aye, matey.