February 18th, 2012 - "A Dangerous Meeting" or "Desecration of Souls" (and Brain Cells)

For today's pairing I thought I would take you down a dark path for a "dangerous meeting" of brew and tunes.  Yes, kids we are going "evil" today with Utah's own, Squatters' Outer Darkness Russian Style Imperial Stout and Mercyful Fate's 1984 album "Don't Break the Oath." 

Let's start with the brew, shall we?  As my father would say, this is a beer that will "put hair on your chest."  Outer Darkness is big... and I mean BIG!  This bad boy is 10.5% alcohol by volume (due to multiple mashes) and comes in a 22 ounce bottle!  After only a few swigs you know you've got a profoundly big beer in your hands.  It pours black (hellishly black, "black as night") with a thick, frothy, 2-finger head that is rich brown in color with good lacing.  The nose is earthy and intense with a strong coffee aroma.  The initial flavor of this full-bodied brew is equally rich, intense, and strong like black coffee with notes of dark chocolate, raisin, bourbon, and malty goodness.   This is a bold, wonderful stout in the Russian tradition that demands attention and respect.

Also bold, intense, and rich with flavor (that will "put hair on your chest") is Mercyful Fate's "Don't Break the Oath," a proto-thrash metal album that explores the darker corners of men's minds with hellish themes.  This may get me in trouble with a few of my metal-head friend, but now here's the deal with me and Danish metal outfit, Mercyful Fate.  I greatly appreciate the intense and technical guitar riffs, the complex song structures, and pounding rhythms, but I've always struggled with singer King Diamond's falsetto style.  For me, it has always been a tongue-in-cheek approach.  Truthfully, I think he sounds like a Muppet.... yet I still love their work.  Hell, I bought the album after all.  As I stated above, Mercyful Fate's song structure, poetic lyrics, and metal approach is really quite fantastic and they have influenced so many great bands.  But I don't know if I will ever get used to old King Diamond... or at least not take him seriously. 

But I will take this pairing of Squatters' Outer Darkness Russian Style Imperial Stout and Mercyful Fate's "Don't Break the Oath" seriously.  The album starts off with the song "A Dangerous Meeting."  Like the beer,
"A Dangerous Meeting" (probably my favorite song on the album) hits you immediatly with screaming guitars and vocals.  And Mercyful Fate doesn't stop there.  Songs like "Nightmare," "Desecration of Souls," "Gypsy," and "Welcome Princess of Hell" smack you in the face like a good Imperial Stout!  Profound, fast, and merciless, "Don't Break the Oath" takes you on a dark and intense musically journey that blasts you from start to finish with nefarious themes and masterful musicianship.

Check out Outer Darkness and all of Squatters' fine beers at http://squatters.com/default.aspx.  And if you are going to purchase Mercyful Fate or any heavy metal for that matter, check out my buddy Kevin's shop: http://www.heavymetalshop.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/TheHeavyMetalShop?sk=wall!