Pirate Metal Band Ye Banished Privateers Parody Holiday Classics on ‘Sulphur Ahoy’ + Announce Christmas Album

Pirate metal rapscallions Ye Banished Privateers have unveiled A Pirate Stole My Christmas, their holiday album that promises to "deck the hulls with 11 swashbuckling Christmas shanties" and up first is a music video for "Sulphur Ahoy," which parodies the classics "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Pat-a-pan."

"Sulphur Ahoy" surprisingly remains rather true to the original — there's no heavy metal heft present on this one and, instead, Ye Banished Privateers transform the song into a merry jig complete with pirate-like voices, of course. And the lyrics, obviously, have been changed to reflect the band's themes as they dance and prance throughout the music video, which feels like a scene ripped right from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

“In our song 'Sulphur Ahoy', we were running out of space on the album, and managed to slay two traditional carols with one stone. By stealing from the original works of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' and 'Pat-a-pan' we tell the story of a fatigued group of freedom fighters trying to get a good night’s rest before a deadly battle. The only problem is that, armed with drums and bagpipes, two assholes of the army musicians try to wake everyone up to have the whole crew join them in a last night of drunken debauchery," commented the group.

Poking fun at their own intentions, they continued, "If given enough time, every artist will eventually lose their last ounce of self-respect and release a Christmas album. Ye Banished Privateers are no strangers to self-loathing commercial stunts, and with our new album — A Pirate Stole My Christmas — we aim to officially join the ranks of Christmas legends such as Mariah Carey and Bing Crosby. Our album is compiled of 11 classic carols defiled into an unrecognizable pulp of rum-drenched atonal pirate madness. If you didn't hate Christmas before, this is certain to change your mind!"

Watch the video for "Sulphur Ahoy" below and view the A Pirate Stole My Christmas album art and track listing further down the page. The album drops Dec. 3 on Napalm Records and can be pre-ordered here.

Ye Banished Privateers, "Sulphur Ahoy" Music Video

Ye Banished Privateers, A Pirate Stole My Christmas Album Art + Track Listing

01. "Ring the Bells"
02. "It Came to Bloody Pass"
03. "Deck and Hull"
04. "12 Days of Christmas"
05. "Sulphur Ahoy"
06. "Little Rummer Boy"
07. "O Cannonball"
08. "Festival Days"
09. "Drawn and Quartered"
10. "Carol of Bellows"
11. "Away in the Gutter"