January 18th, 2014 - Sea Legs In The Golden Halls Of Baltic Porter

God kväll!  Time for some more heaviness!!  The Meista here with another killer metal album and artisan brew pairing for you my friends!  I'm pairing Amon Amarth's "Once Sent From The Golden Hall" and a Sea Legs Baltic Porter from Uinta Brewing Company! 

For such a complex and rich album I thought we better go BIG!!  The Sea Legs Baltic Porter from Uinta Brewing Company is a seriously complex and bombastic brew!  The Sea Legs Baltic Porter is Uinta's richly textured porter in the tradition of the bigger, full-bodied porters of the late 1700s.  The name Baltic Porter comes from the "stronger, more robust versions" that were shipped across the North Sea during the 18th century.  Brewed at a higher alcohol volume to sustain body and flavor during the cold crossing, these ales are known for their depth and complexity.  The Sea Legs pours a wonderfully deep mahogany (almost black) with a frothy, creamy, and mocha head that displays good spiderweb lacing throughout.  The nose is rich and earthy with notes of oak, dark coffee, and dark chocolate with ever so slight aromas of mellow vanilla and big bourbon notes.  With a medium to full bodied depth and perfect carbonation, the Sea Legs has great, creamy mouthfeel.  The flavor is as rich as the nose.  Those oak barrel aged flavors really come out coupled with earthiness of the chocolate malts.  Sticky on the lips and tongue, bittersweet chocolate flavors abound along with a really nice, smooth smokiness on both the front and back of the palate.  The Sea Legs is quickly becoming a favorite porter of mine!  Not only is the Sea Legs a great presentation of the Baltic porter style, it is a great brew to accompany the sheer metal onslaught of Amon Amarth's "Once Sent From The Golden Hall"!!   Check out all the fantastic brews from Uinta Brewing Company at http://www.uintabrewing.com/!!

Amon Amarth's "Once Sent From The Golden Hall" is the first full-length album by the Swedish melodic death metal band.  It was released on February 10th ,1998.  The 2009 remastered edition includes a second disc with the band playing "Once Sent From The Golden Hall" live, in its entirety at Bochum on December 28th, 2008.  The band at this time was made up of Johan Hegg with his powerfully growling vocals, Olavi Mikkonen on the fiery lead guitar, Anders Hansson on the equally as fiery rhythm guitar, Ted Lundström on the thunderous bass, and the amazing Martin Lopez on earth shattering drums!  (Martin would leave Amon Amarth shortly after recording "Once Sent From The Golden Hall" to join progressive death metal band Opeth.) Musically, the album was once described as "a compelling fusion of buzzsaw riff work, melodic harmonies and soul-crushing rhythms punctuated by Hegg’s callous black/death roar and accounts of Norse battles and treachery".   I couldn't agree more!  A bit more raw and black metal-centric vocally than their later works, "Once Sent From The Golden Hall" is a powerfully compelling and engaging album of depth, complexity, and integrity!  Here's the complete track list:

1. "Ride For Vengeance"
2. "The Dragon's Flight Across The Waves"
3. "Without Fear"
4. "Victorious March"
5. "Friends Of The Suncross"
6. "Abandonded"
7. "Amon Amarth"
8. "Once Sent From The Golden Hall"
9. "Siegreicher Marsch (Victorious March)" (bonus track - 2009 remastered edition)

Skål... Helan går!!   Hails!!