April 20th, 2013 - Mid Space Mountain Metal

Good evening!  The Meista here with another beer and metal posting for you!  Tonight finds me geeking out and pairing the 2002 album, "Space Metal" by progressive metal project/supergroup Star One and an Epic Brewing Company Mid Mountain Mild Ale.   This pairing goes out to all you sci-fi nerds out there!  Brews and Tunes raises a glass to you in solidarity!  Cheers!

"Space Metal" is a mixture of progressive metal, melodic metal, and space rock and thematically is a journey into the favorite science fiction films and television shows of project writer/producer/musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen.  Lucassen sings, plays guitars, keyboards, and Hammond organ, and is joined by singers Russell Allen (Symphony X), Damian Wilson (Threshold), Dan-Erland Swanö (Nightingale/Edge of Sanity), and Floor Jansen (After Forever/Nightwish).  Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery) provides additional guitars, Ed Warby (Gorefest) provides drums, Peter Vink plays bass, and Jens Ola Johansson (Stratovarius) and Erik Norlander (Rocket Scientist/Lana Lane) provided additional keyboards.  Like all of Lucassen's projects, Star One is a bombastic and progressive ride of sonic complexity and solid songwriting and performance.  Unlike his other projects, it is pure heavy metal.  It is powerful, rocking stuff with amazing vocal performances! Thematically, the songs are based on the following films and television shows:

1. "Lift-Off" (an instrumental piece)
2. "Set Your Controls" - Doctor Who
3. "High Moon" - Outland
4. "Songs of the Ocean" - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
5. "Master of Darkness" - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
6. "The Eye of Ra" - Stargate
7. "Sandrider" - Dune
8. "Perfect Survivor" - Alien
9. "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" - Blake's 7
10. "Starchild" - 2001: A Space Odyssey, and 2010: The Year We Make Contact

Although sci-fi themed, the songs just plain rock and are not obvious in their homage... so definitely accessible for any rocker looking for something different and profoundly cool.

I thought I'd go with duality tonight in my pairing of "Space Meta" so I chose a very sessionable Mid Mountain Mild Ale from Epic Brewing Company.  The Mid Mountain is brewed with Muntons Maris Otter and Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt as the base malts, Weyermann Cara Munich 1, Weyermann Munic Malt Type 1, and Roasted Barley along with Saaz, Willamette, and Mount Hood hops.  Lighter in flavor and in ABV percentage (5.1%) than most Epic brews, the Mid Mountain is light-bodied, smooth beer with a crisp, clean finish.  From a 22 oz. bomber, it pours a very opaque and very cloudy caramel amber.  It actually looks like melted caramel.  The head is frothy and dissipates slowly, leaving bubbly lacing.  The nose is malty and nutty.  There are soft notes of toasted bread, acorn, and hazelnut.  The Mid Mountain is light-bodied with mellow carbonation making for a smooth mouthfeel.  Incredibly drinkable, the flavor is nutty, malty, and slightly sweet.  The roasted barley gives it a real hearty flavor as well, which is nice and gives it a bit more body for a lighter beer.  There's a very subtle peppery note on the back of the tongue as well.  I'm also getting some almond, vanilla, and clove honey notes.  The complex flavors is great for the lyrical content and musical complexity of "Space Metal" while the drinkability flows well with the rocking groove of the album!

Learn more about the Mid Mountain Mild Ale from Epic Brewing Company at http://epicbrewing.com/our-beers/exponential-series/itemlist/category/24-mid-mountain-mild-ale and I'm sure my buddy Kevin at the Heavy Metal Shop would be more than happy to order you a copy of "Space Metal" by Star One like he did for me!  Check him out at www.heavymetalshop.com!