December 31st, 2014 - A Barley Wine For A Dying Sun

Hello and Happy New Year!!  To help ring in the new year, I'm pairing Finnish melodic death metal band Insomnium's most recent album "Shadows Of The Dying Sun" with a Barley Wine Ale (Release #17) from Epic Brewing Company!


Album Info:

• Artist: Insomnium
• Title: "Shadows Of The Dying Sun"
• Release date: April 25th, 2014 (6th studio album by the band)
• Record company: Century Media Records
• Album cover art: Wille Naukkarinen
• Personnel: Ville Friman (guitars and vocals), Marcus Hirvonen (drums), Niilo Sevänen (lead vocals and bass), and Markus Vanhala (guitars)
• Additional musicians: Teemu Aalto (backing vocals and additional guitar) and Aleksi Munter (keyboards)
• Major themes: Darkness, loss, pain, sorrow, and the natural world
• Musical style: Melodic death metal/progressive death metal/gothic metal (with hints of folk metal and doom)
• Sound: Combining death metal, progressive rock, and gothic metal, Insomnium creates a very moody, yet powerfully aggressive sound with "Shadows Of The Dying Sun".  The combination of growling and clean vocals blends wonderfully with the integrity and complexity of their melodic and intense music.
• Tracks:

1. "The Primeval Dark"
2. "While We Sleep"
3. "Revelation"
4. "Black Heart Rebellion"
5. "Lose To Night"
6. "Collapsing Words"
7. "The River"
8. "Ephemeral"
9. "The Promethean Song"
10. "Shadows Of The Dying Sun"
11. "Out To The Sea"

  Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company
• Website: http://epicbrewing.com/
• Brew: Barley Wine Ale (Release #17)
• Style: Barley wine
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 11%
• Ingredients: Briess Roasted Barley, Briess Two-Row Brewers Malt, Briess Two-Row Caramel Malt 60, Briess Two-Row Chocolate Malt, Muntons Maris Otter, and Weyermann Munich Malt Type I, along with Cascade, Chinook, Columbus, and CTZ hops.
• Pour: Very murky reddish brown with an off-white thin head that leaves only trace lacing.
• Nose: An interesting blend of dark fruits, sweet malts, and Northwestern hops.  There are aromas of raisin, fig, and date, along with burnt toffee and pine/cedar.
• Taste: Bold, robust, and complex, the Barley Wine Ale is characterized by flavors of raisin bread, plum, barley, hints of cocoa, toffee
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel is thick, smooth, and velvety with a boozy bite.
• Finish: The finish is surprisingly hoppy for a barley wine.

 Overall pairing: Like the Barley Wine Ale (Release #17), Insomnium's album "Shadows Of The Dying Sun" is a meaty, complex, and brilliantly crafted work of art.  I strongly recommend checking out both the album and the ale! 

Kippis... pohjanmaan kautta... hölkyn kölkyn... hails!!!