December 15th, 2016 - Hopulent Demons Of The AstroWaste

Good evening hop heads and metal heads!  The Meista here tonight pairing a Hopulent India Pale Ale with Unleash The Archers' sophomore album "Demons Of The AstroWaste"!

Album Info:

• Artist: Unleash The Archers
• Title: "Demons Of The AstroWaste"
• Recorded: 2011 at Vogville Studios in Port Coquitlam, British Colombia, Canada, Studio in North Vancouver, British Colombia, and Rain City Recorders in Burnaby, British Colombia
  Release date: May 2011 (2nd album by Unleash The Archers)
• Record company: Independent Records
• Production: Unleash The Archers
• Album cover art: JP Fournier
• Personnel: Scott Buchanan (drums), Brayden Dyczkowski (guitars and vocals), Brittney Hayes (lead vocals), Zahk Hedstrom (bass), and Mike Selman (guitars) 
• Guest musician: Grant Truesdell (guitars)
• Musical style: Heavy metal, power metal, speed metal, melodic death metal
• Sound: With "Demons Of The AstroWaste", Unleash The Archers sound is bombastic, aggressive, and pure metal!  What really stands out on the album is Hayes' huge vocal range as well as Dyczkowski's acrobatic guitar work on a monster rhythm canvas of Buchanan's thunderous drums and Hedstrom's pounding bass. 
• Major themes: "Demons Of The AstroWaste" is a concept album about exploits of a mercenary in space in the distant future.  Themes include war, deception, betrayal, power, might, destruction, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "00:00:01"
2. "Dawn Of Ages"
3. "The Realm Of Tomorrow"
4. "General Of The Dark Army"
5. "Daughters Of Winterstone"
6. "Battle In The Shadow (Of The Mountain)"
7. "Despair"
8. "The Outlander"
9. "City Of Iron"
10. "The Fall Of The Galactic Guard"
11. "Astral Annihilation"
12. "Ripping Through Time"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://pdubs.net/
• Brew: Hopulent IPA
• Style: American India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 8.4%
• Ingredients: Columbus, Chinook, Centennial, and Simcoe hops and Two Row Ultra Premium Maris Otter, Weyermann Munic malt Type 1 and Briess Caramel malt 20L
• Pour: The Hopulent pours a very cloudy faded red-copper with flecks of gold.  The head is billowy, rocky, and displays great retention with big, chunky lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a huge blast of pine, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, grass clippings, and a hint of white pepper. 
• Taste: The flavor is very hop-forward.  There are notes of pine resin, grapefruit, orange zest, sourdough, and a hint of bitter spices like fennel and rye.  Along with the hoppy bitterness, the Hopulent is malty and slightly sweet.
• Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is sticky, oily, crisp, and bitter with a somewhat dry, earthy, and spicy finish with lingering bitterness.

Overall pairing: The bold, complex, and hoppy kick of Epic's Hopulent IPA is a great beer for the metal intensity and fiery speed of the tracks on "Demons Of The AstroWaste"!  The aggressive hoppy bitterness is great for Dyczkowski's growling vocals while the citrus and caramel maltiness works well Hayes' vast range!

Cheers and hails!!