Cat O’ Nine Tails – 13-11-2015

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Sailing by are some Pirates with a brief stop to talk with Tempelores. That’s what happens in a country like The Netherlands which has its name and fame internationally for dealing with the sea and water managements. The band is called Cat O’ Nine Tails and are relatively new.

The searobbers are on anchor in Apeldoorn (Netherlands) and we are eager to find out a little more. Where are they coming from? Well their homeport is in Finland and the make some Christian Pirate Metal. Although there are some more Pirate Metal bands around, this we have not come across on a too regular base.

“It started with a joke and then we saw the potential”, says Tuomas (bassist). And that potential seemed to inspire them to spend a lot of time in the band. This joke was cracked around 2011 and then the ball kept rolling. The work started and they took the time to develop into what they are right now. The band says to be familiar with Alestorm, but have not heard of acts like Swashbuckle. It does not relate to them any further than the common ‘Pirate theme’ as they say. “We came from the Christian perspective” is what they say and they do elaborate that further as in the way their songs are written. Also musically the guys are having a bit different approach: “We use different kind of genres in metal and combine them” says Samuel (Guitars) and also a fair comment comes from Tuomas: “Alestorm is more party metal”.

Earlier this year the band released their debut album called: ‘Under Captain’s Flag’. It is the first sign of life that the guys have given and so it defines them right away. Not only the preparations of the whole band took their time, but of course their album as well. They said the records were started in 2013 and early 2015 it was there. However the band went in well prepared. “Almost all the songs and all the arrangements were done”, they tell. Writing the album seem to come naturally as the idea was strong enough to enlighten their inspiration. What took them most time was to put everything together. “We have so many layers and instruments like accordions, violin” Samuel tells. It took time to get all together well. The band did not record these all, a budget driven decision, but seem to keep that option open for future plans. “That’s the next thing”, they say smiling ambitiously.

When looking a bit closer to the songs self the importance of the theme comes forward a little more. They keep their faith at an important place but tell it from a Pirate view, a different kind of thing. We talked a bit about their song called ‘Splicing the Mainbrace’ in which this comes forward. “It is about not knowing what life would bring. When you are going to die or what will happen. The message of the song is to always keep faith. We never know what life will bring”, they tell and add that this is probably the most personal song to find on the release.

Looking at the strong structure we get back to the production of the song ‘Symphony of Ending Time’. This one seemed to be the most hybrid one during the process, changing most of all. Tuomas tells: “It had three different choruses”. Of course it eventually morphed into the song it is now to be found on their album, but it was not the easiest process. “It has so many different parts. It was hard to combine all that. At first the chorus was more Power Metal and now it is more Melancholic” they explain. Overall they seem very pleased with the result as they conclude that it was worth the work.

Immediately this album brought the guys into Europe. A great step for a band that besides an album did not yet play many shows to get the buzz going. The reason they aim for the international stages seems clear, Finland has not yet the space for these guys yet. With the theme they have and the show that comes with it, the band simply needs a bit more space on a stage. “It’s like Nightwish, they cannot play in a small club” they say and as we witnessed the barrels and treasure chest etc. at the stage later that night we can relate to that. After all the audience may get to know the band just now, but the guys have been working on this project for a long time. “It is a new band, but not a new band for us anymore”, they conclude.

Links:
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