Despite the vast majority of my music habits falling under the categories of either metal or rock, I always like to keep the horizons of my taste nice and wide because I damn well know that there’s loads of good music outside just two styles, and I also enjoy challenging myself with styles that I didn’t think I’d initially enjoy. No better act embodied that idea more than Ye Banished Privateers with their last album, and I’ve somehow found myself very excited for their new album. Thankfully, that attitude was well-rewarded.

What really brought me to the sound that Ye Banished Privateers brings to the table is the high energy, tavern-like catchy tunes or the mildly epic set songs that really captured the imagination in such a way that extremely few other acts can bring forth with such tastiness. I figured we’d get more of that here with “Hostis Humani Generis”, and while we do get that at certain moments to my immense delight, the focus tends to lie more in the slow-paced chants that can often take on a somber tone such that it becomes material that Ye Banished Privateers has rarely touched on. Even then, though, they make it sound like they’ve been pulling it off for years. Everything that goes into “Hostis Humani Generis” only furthers the fact that this act is an essential one for any pirate music lover as they nail the topic perfectly from catchy works to haul in an absolute throng of drunkards to lamenting about the invasion of the military, and Ye Banished Privateers always nails the execution despite having several members to constantly include on every track. Despite all that, I can’t help but feel that Ye Banished Privateers has hit their desired mark yet again with this album as it’s consistently entertaining and a lot more engaging than I thought it would be when I first dove into it, and it’s at many turns that “Hostis Humani Generis” has plenty of secrets and new tricks to pull out of nowhere to intrigue us with like children watching fireworks.

Such works like these are what constantly keep me coming back to the unique bands that I happen upon over the years, and Ye Banished Privateers is a perfect example of that because their special style was already near-immaculate before this release so there was virtually no way they wouldn’t disappoint with another effort. On just about every front, “Hostis Humani Generis” delivers a great experience while still bringing us new elements and fanciful additions that we weren’t expecting that constantly keep this album interesting down to the very last note.

LISTEN to singles from “Hostis Humani Generis” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ye Banished Privateers on Facebook here.