June 28th, 2015 - I'm Taking A Luminiferous Detour!

Hails!!  You know... that last pairing was great, but it has me wanting another Double IPA with some metal this go round! So yours truly (the Meista) is here pairing the latest album from head-banging metal monsters High On Fire, "Luminiferous" with a multi-award winning Detour Double IPA from my friends at Uinta Brewing Company!  This pairing goes out to my friend Scott, a fellow High On Fire fan and beer enthusiast.  Scott passed away one year ago this month from brain cancer.  Scott was one of the most courageous, heroic, intelligent, witty, and caring people I've ever known.  Miss you brotha!!  This pairing also goes out to Chad, Stephanie, and Jeff... much love and cheers!!
 
Album Info:

• Artist: High On Fire
• Title: "Luminiferous"
• Recorded: 2015 at Godcity
• Release date: June 23rd, 2015 (7th studio album by High On Fire)
• Record company: E1 Music
• Production: Kurt Ballou (Converge bassist)
• Album cover art: Jordan Barlow
• Personnel: Des Kensel (drums and backing vocals), Jeff Matz (bass, backing vocals, and baglama on "The Cave"), and Matt Pike (guitars and lead vocals)
• Musical style: A wonderful blend of sludge metal, stoner metal, doom metal, and thrash metal
• Sound: As contradictory as it may sound, "Luminiferous" is all at ounce aggressive, brutal, melodic, expressive, and harmonic.
• Major themes: Pike's lyrics are a bit crazy, dealing with death and destruction, political and alien government conspiracy theories, and Lovecraftian evil, but they are wholly metal!  Of his lyrics on the album, Pike recently stated,  "We're doing our part to expose The Elite and the fingers they have in religion, media, governments and financial world downfall and their relationship to all of our extraterrestrial connections in the race to control this world."
• Notes: Check out the great review NPR did of the album here: http://www.npr.org/2015/06/07/412028493/first-listen-high-on-fire-luminiferous 
• Tracks: 

1. "The Black Plot"
2. "Carcosa"
3. "The Sunless Years"
4. "Slave The Hive"
5. "The Falconist"
6. "The Dark Side Of The Compass"
7. "The Cave"
8. "Luminiferous"
9. "The Lethal Chamber"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.uintabrewing.com/
• Brew: Detour Double IPA
• Style: Double India Pale Ale (DIPA)
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 9.5%
• IBUs: 95
• Pour: It pours a dark, cloudy, honey-gold amber with a frothy, off-white, mashed potato head.  The head has good retention and displays layered, cascading lacing.
• Nose: The dank 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. 
• Taste:   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 "Luminiferous"!  
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied and moderately carbonated, the Detour has a rather heavy caramel malt body with a sticky, oily resin mouthfeel. 

Overall pairing:  Like High On Fire, the Detour may not be for everyone (especially if you are a sissy that can only handle soft rock and Raspberry Wheat Ales... hahaha... just kidding... sort of!).  The aggressive bite of  "Luminiferous" deserves an ale of equal complexity, bitterness, and aggression... and the Detour Double IPA from Uinta Brewing Company most definitely fits that bill!  I picked up "Luminiferous" from my buddy Kevin at the Heavy Metal Shop (www.heavymetalshop.com)... and you should too!!

To your health... keep it metal and keep it craft!!