Legend of The Seagullmen are the latest “supergroup” in metal. Danny Carey of Tool and Brent Hinds of Mastodon are the big names present. The band also has director Jimmy Howard on guitar, and Pete Griffin of Zappa Plays Zappa and Dethklok on bass. Fronting the band is David “The Doctor” Dreyer, who has a solid but unspectacular voice. So yes, there’s plenty of hype attached to their self titled debut.

The band sound more like Mastodon than Tool. Other than being able to finally hear Carey play on some music, there’s really no connection musically to what Tool does. As for a film director being in this band, Howard directed “Jonah Hex” which Mastodon recorded some music for. So yes, Legend of The Seagullmen have more Mastodon DNA in their sound than anything else.

But they jump from a punk-ish vibe to a full on orchestra sound which showcases the talent in the band. The music is really great. Unfortunately, the lyrics can often be very immature. Don’t get me wrong, I love to swear and curse as you all know, but that’s why I would never write lyrics. A one reason I’ll never be confused with Neil Peart. Dreyer drops so many “fucks” on some of the songs that there’s more cursing than not. It’s just overdone. Plus I have a hard time understanding the rest of what he says.

He sounds like he is trying to hard to be a tough guy. Maybe he is in character since this is somewhat of a nautical concept album…I guess? Still, it’s too much and winds up taking away from the really good music that’s backing him. And to be clear, there are some epic tracks like “Curse of the Red Tide” which will please any prog fan.

Some lyrics have the storytelling feel of Les Claypool though not nearly as clever. “The Orca” is a good example. The lyrics are fairly predictable. But the album finishes strong with “Rise of the Giant” and “Ballad of the Deep Sea Diver.” I like the album a lot better than Hinds’ other side project “Giraffe Tongue Orchestra” but this certainly doesn’t rival Mastodon. I don’t know if it rivals Tool since they don’t have a new album out.

I had very high expectations for “Legend of The Seagullmen” and unfortunately it does fall short of those expectations. That said, this is a good album that’s worth checking out if you are a fan of any of the Seagullmen. But beware the hype, it’s not quite all it seems.

Rating: 7.5/10

Tracklist:
1. We are the Seagullmen
2. The Fogger
3. Shipswreck
4. Curse of the Red Tide
5. Legend of the Seagullmen
6. The Orca
7. Rise of the Giant
8. Ballad of the Deep Sea Diver

Label: Dine Alone Records
Release Date: 9 February 2018