For those who don't know (or couldn't guess from the band's name) Swashbuckle is a pirate-themed Death Metal band from, of all places, New Jersey. Stalwarts Commodore Redrum (guitars) and Admiral Nobeard, he of the prodigious facial hair, naturally (bass/vocals) and the next in a never-ending succession of drummers (the skins are currently pounded by Legendary Pirate King Eric "The" Brown) have enjoyed some modest success and released three full-length albums and several EPs and demos. Their current release, on the tiny Get This Right Records, is the four-song EP We Hate the Sea. Four songs clocking in at just under seven minutes; that's tidy. That's barely a song for a lot of bands but I'm sure the 7" vinyl-only formatting has a lot to do with that.

The music is straightforward, fast and very thrashy Death Metal and Admiral Nobeard's no-nonsense death growls are decipherable, with a bit of effort. I wish I could say this is something special, but it isn't. We Hate the Sea is about as generic an effort as you can imagine. Extreme vocals, speed on top of speed, slower, Thrash breakdowns and all the rest of the trappings of U.S. Death Metal are here and you've heard it all before. Having seen Swashbuckle play I can attest to how fun they are in the live setting but We Hate the Sea adds nothing to their repertoire that the fans will be requesting at their shows. Hopefully this is just a release to keep the band's name out there while they work on something more substantial.