October 10th, 2014 - Killing, ****ing, And Dying At The Direction Of The Black O' Lantern!

Hails rivet heads and stout heads... and fans of darkness and the macabre in general!!  The Meista here tonight pairing a Wasatch Black O' Lantern Pumpkin Stout from the Utah Brewers Cooperative and a favorite of mine, the very underrated "K.F.D" by W.A.S.P.!!  Hell yeahs!!

"K.F.D" (Kill Fuck Die) is the 7th studio album by heavy metal band W.A.S.P.  It was released on April 29th, 1997.  More in the vein of industrial and Goth metal, "K.F.D" found band leader Blackie Lawless (vocals and guitars) taking a completely different and much darker direction with W.A.S.P. musically, incorporating looping, electronics, and sampling... and a significant amount of cursing as well along with incredibly angry and personal lyrics.  :)  It also saw the rather surprising and somewhat short-lived return of lead guitarist Chris Holmes, who had left the band originally in 1989 after the recording of "The Headless Children".  (He would leave again in 2001 after the release of "Unholy Terror".)  Along with Lawless and Holmes, the band at the time was made up of Mike Duda on bass, and Stet Howland on drums.  Inspired by the end of bad relationships for both Lawless and Holmes along with the film Apocalypse Now, "K.F.D." explores themes of anger (and lots of it!), pain, loss, (did I mention anger?), death, and vengeance.  Along with the unbridled anger, I think the strength of this album lies in the amazing guitar work of Holmes... some of his best work in my opinion.  Each track is a brutal gem... heavy, brutally honest, and aggressive.  Here's the hauntingly awesome full track list:

1. "Kill.Fuck.Die."
2. "Take the Addiction"
3. "My Tortured Eyes"
4. "Killahead" – 4:07
5. "Kill Your Pretty Face"
6. "Fetus"
7. "Little Death"
8. "U"
9. "Wicked Love"
10. "The Horror"

With both the season and the darkness of "K.F.D.", I thought a Wasatch Black O' Lantern Pumpkin Stout would be more than apropos as a pairing.  It pours an opaque ink black with a thin mocha head that leaves trace lacing.  The nose is a very interesting blend of spices, hearty bread, gourd, earthy coffee aromas.  There's lots of nutmeg, clove, pumpkin bread, dark roasted coffee, dark chocolate, and a hint of oak.  Medium to full-bodied with very little carbonation, the mouthfeel is smooth and creamy.  The taste is a wonderful blend of the heaviness and richness of an Imperial Stout and the sweet and spiciness of a traditional pumpkin ale.  There are huge notes of pumpkin spice bread, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, bittersweet dark chocolate, burnt toffee, toasted malts, Columbian coffee, vanilla bean, and my grandmother's pumpkin pie... decadent and beautiful! 

Cheers and hails headbangers!!