June 6th, 2014 - Having A Blast! With Melissa

Hails metal and ale brethren!  The Meista here today pairing Mercyful Fate's seminal album "Melissa" with a Brooklyn Blast! Ale from Brooklyn Brewery for ya!  Hell yeah!!

Incredibly influential and vastly artistic, "Melissa" is the debut studio album by Danish metal outfit Mercyful Fate.  It was released on October 30th, 1983.  Arguably one of the more important albums to the metal genre, "Melissa" has been sited by multiple thrash metal, power metal, and black metal bands alike as have influence their sound and musical approach.  Blending classic hard rock and progressive rock with the more aggressive and fast-paced NWOBHM delivery, Mercyful Fate created a whole new sound with their debut album.  While many of their metal contemporaries and predecessors only dabbled with occultist, pagan, and Satanic lyrical themes, Mercyful Fate wholly embraced such subject matter, as it was the driving force for their song lyrics from day one.  Tame by today's standards, at the time of its release, "Melissa" was a horrifyingly dark album for parents, politicians, and clergy... right up my ally!!  :)  Personnel on the "Melissa" included Kim Bendix Petersen (better known as King Diamond) on lead vocals, Hank Shermann on guitar, Michael Denner on guitar, Timmi "Grabber" Hansen on bass, and Kim Ruzz on drums and percussion.   Admittedly, I still struggle a bit to this day with King Diamond's overemphasized falsetto vocals, but the brilliant songwriting and musical delivery more than makes up for any silliness.  Shermann's guitar work alone is worth every penny of this brilliant album!  Every song on "Melissa" is a gem, fantastically executed metal perfection as it were!  Here's the full track list:

1. Evil
2. Curse Of The Pharaohs
3. Into The Coven
4. At The Sound Of The Demon Bell
5. Black Funeral
6. Satan's Fall
7. Melissa 

The Brooklyn Blast! Ale from Brooklyn Brewery is very hop forward and aggressively bitter Double IPA... perfect for the imposing sound of Mercyful fate, don't ya think?  The Brooklyn Blast! pours a bright, honey-gold amber with a big, 2-finger, off-white head that leaves thick, curtain lacing.  The nose is a nice blend of earthy, herbal, pine aromas set against sweeter, more citrusy and "perfumey" aromas.  There is also some nice bready and yeasty aromas underneath all that hoppiness.  Medium bodied and highly carbonated, the Brooklyn Blast! has a rather intense sharpness... a very tingly and biting mouthfeel.  The flavor, like "Satan's Fall" is quite bitter and aggressive.  Unlike many other Double IPAs, the Brooklyn Blast! is not very sweet and the citrus notes are more subtle.  The 8.4% ABV gives the ale a somewhat prevalent boozy aftertaste as well, but nothing too overpowering or unpleasant.  The Brooklyn Blast! Ale is definitely a fitting brew for "Melissa"!!

Bunden i vejret eller resten i håret!!  Skål and hails!!