Here's another Valentine's Day pairing for all you lovers out there... lovers of extreme metal and craft beer that is... mwahahaha!! The Meista here pairing "Serpents Unleashed" by Skeletonwitch and a Detour Double India Pale Ale (IPA) from Uinta Brewing Company (their new 12 ounce version)!
"Serpents Unleashed" is the 5th studio album by Ohio death/thrash/black metal band Skeletonwitch and was released in 2013. As their name suggests, Skeletonwitch has a penchant for the darker side, both lyrically and musically. The album perfectly blends thrash metal (with some wonderfully rich influence from the NWOBHM movement) with death/black metal vocals and a very, very subtle sprinkling of punk. While incredibly aggressive in approach, the songs also rely heavily on melodic integrity, intriguing lyrics, and brilliant musicianship. Vocalist Chance Garnette's vocal delivery is utterly demonic! He is wonderfully inhuman... "hell has [indeed] arrived"! Bassist Evan Linger is an eruption of thunder and cannon fire! Drummer Dustin Boltjes is a mad fury of machine-gun fire speed and technical precision! And guitarists Nate Garnette and Scott Hedrick are quickly becoming some of my favorite metal guitarist out there... inspiring, innovative, and insanely fast! You hear this about a lot of extreme metal bands and their songs, but the pieces on "Serpents Unleashed" (like the title track, "I Am Of Death (Hell Has Arrived)", "From A Cloudless Sky", "This Evil Embrace" "Unwept" and "Born Of the Light That Does Not Shine") are truly BRUTAL!! I had the great fortune of seeing Skeletonwitch open for Enslaved and headliner Amon Amarth just a couple of days ago! I'm still reeling!! Man what a night!! If this show is coming to your town, GET A TICKET... RIGHT FUCKING NOW!! :) And go pick up a copy of "Serpents Unleashed" from my buddy Kevin at the Heavy Metal Shop (www.heavymetalshop.com)!!
The aggressive bite of "Serpents Unleashed" (and Valentine's Day for some) deserves an ale of equal complexity, bitterness, and aggression... and the Detour Double IPA from Uinta Brewing Company most definitely fits that bill! Like Skeletonwitch, the Detour is not for everyone (especially if you are a sissy that can only handle soft rock and Pilsners and Raspberry Wheat Ales... hahaha!). From Uinta's website: "Detour blazes the trail for fresh and bold Double IPAs. Four varieties of hops combine to step up the flavor profile. A hoppy adventure that finishes dry. Big in alcohol and character." Exceptionally bitter and hop forward, yet crisp and refreshing, Uinta's Detour Double IPA comes in at 9.5% ABV and 74 IBU. It pours a dark, cloudy, honey-gold amber with a frothy, off-white head. The head has good retention and displays layered, cascading lacing. The nose is a combination of big pine and citrus aromas. There are notes of grapefruit rind, lemon, orange zest, and huge Evergreen and cedar notes. The Detour has a rather heavy caramel malt body with a sticky, oily resin mouthfeel. In terms of flavor, the Detour is a big, bitter, and sweet ale, a wonderfully hop forward, malty brew. There are bitter and grassy notes from the hops and some really nice caramel notes from the malts and grains. There is a slight booziness to the beer, but it is well hidden by the sharp hop and sweet caramel notes, which makes it a bit dangerous... kinda like Skeletonwitch! Check it out: http://www.uintabrewing.com/!
Cheers and hails!!!
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| 2014 Amon Amarth/Enslaved/Skeletonwitch Tour Poster |
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