September 18th, 2015 - The Cosmosophy Of The KBS

Bonjour and hails evildoers!  The Meista here getting very dark with a pairing of "777 – Cosmosophy" by mysterious French black metal band Blut Aus Nord and a KBS from Founders Brewing Company!

Album Info:

• Artist: Blut Aus Nord
• Title: "777 – Cosmosophy"
• Recorded: France, mastered at Earthsound Recording
• Release date: September 21st, 2012 (10th full-length studio album by Blut Aus Nord)
• Record company: Debemur Morti Productions
• Production: Vindsval?
• Album cover art: ?
• Personnel: Vindsval (all songwriting, instruments, and vocals)
• Musical style: Dark ambient electronic music, symphonic / progressive black metal, avant-garde / experimental metal, doom metal, industrial metal
• Sound: The sound on "777 – Cosmosophy" is emotional, haunting, intricate, and totally immersing.  Irregular drum beats are coupled with soaring melodies as well as sludgy doom heaviness.  Studio layering gives each instrument and voice a vastness that demands you pay full attention from the opening guitars of "Epitome XIV" to the fade out of "Epitome XVIII". 
• Major themes: "777 – Cosmosophy" is a concept album and 3rd and last album of Blut Aus Nord's "777 trilogy".  In both French and English, lyrics on the album are esoteric, enigmatic, and surreal, but may include themes mysticism, environmental catastrophe and awareness, states of being, states of consciousness, the passage of time, darkness, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Epitome XIV"
2. "Epitome XV"
3. "Epitome XVI"
4. "Epitome XVII"
5. "Epitome XVIII"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Founders Brewing Company (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• Website: http://www.foundersbrewing.com/
• Brew: KBS
• Style: American Double / Imperial Stout
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 11.2%
• IBUs: 70
• Pour: An opaque almost ink black with burnt amber edges.  The head is a deep mocha with lots of lacing!
• Nose: The nose is an amazing blend of rich, earthy, sweet, and boozy aromas.  There are notes of brown sugar, molasses, dark roasted coffee, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, cream, and bourbon.
• Taste: This one definitely lives up to the hype!  The taste of the KBS is everything you could want in an Imperial Stout.  Flavors of rich coffee, bittersweet dark chocolate, and brown sugar are intertwined with creamy marshmallow, vanilla bean, sweet toffee, and aged bourbon.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with minimal carbonation, the mouthfeel is thick and boozy as well as very creamy and velvety with a dry, sweet finish.

Overall pairing: "777 – Cosmosophy", the finale of Blut Aus Nord's "777 trilogy" isn't so much an album as it is an emotional journey... just as Founders Brewing Company's KBS isn't so much a beer as it is gastronomical tour de force!  The richly dark complexity of both the album and the brew were seemingly made for one another in my mind.  If you are in an introspective mood, I can think of nothing better to enhance that experience than by spinning "777 – Cosmosophy" and slowly sipping a KBS!!

Cheers and hails!!  À votre santé!!