October 5th, 2018 - No Sacrifice, No Victory For The Queen Of The Seven Kingdoms

God eftermiddag and happy Friday! The Meista here today pairing HammerFall's "No Sacrifice, No Victory" and a Queen Of The Seven Kingdoms from Brewery Ommegang!  

Album Info:

• Artist: HammerFall
• Title: "No Sacrifice, No Victory"
• Recorded: June through November 2008 at PAMA Studios in Torsås, Sweden and Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden
• Release date: February 20th, 2009 (7th studio album by Hammerfall)
• Record company: Nuclear Blast
• Production: Charlie Bauerfeind
• Album cover art: Samwise Didier
• Personnel: Joacim Cans (lead and backing vocals), Oscar Dronjak (rhythm, lead guitars, and backing vocals), Anders Johansson (drums), Fredrik Larsson (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pontus Norgren (rhythm, lead guitars, and backing vocals)
• Additional musicians: Jens Johansson (keyboard solo on "Something for the Ages" and church organ on "Between Two Worlds"), and Stefan Elmgren (additional guitar solo on "Bring the Hammer Down")
• Musical style: Heavy metal, power metal
• Sound: With lots of soaring guitars, Cans' huge vocal range, thunderclap drums, and stampeding bass, the songs on "No Sacrifice, No Victory" are mid to fast temp with lot of wonderful hooks, melodies, and guitar solos!
• Major themes: With songs about the mind of a killer, touring, the occult, demons, Hector, and warriors, the themes on the album include: punishment, living life to the fullest, temptation, desperation, fighting for your beliefs, heavy metal, bravery, valor, power, might, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "Any Means Necessary"
2. "Life Is Now"
3. "Punish And Enslave"
4. "Legion"
5. "Between Two Worlds"
6. "Hallowed Be My Name"
7. "Something For The Ages"
8. "No Sacrifice, No Victory"
9. Bring The Hammer Down"
10. "One Of A Kind"
11. "My Sharona (The Knack cover)

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Brewery Ommegang (Cooperstown, New York)
• Website: http://ommegang.com/
• Brew: Queen Of The Seven Kingdoms
• Style: American Wild Ale / Belgian Blonde Ale
• Serving: 25 ounce bottle
• ABV: 6.7%
• Pour: The Queen Of The Seven Kingdoms pours a hazy golden yellow with a frothy, 1+ finger, bright white head that dissipates quickly and leaves virtually no lacing.
• Nose: The nose is fruity, yeasty, spicy, earthy, and funky.  There are aromas of Belgian yeast, coriander, lemon, pear juice, chardonnay, wet leather, horse blanket, yogurt, and light bready malt.
• Taste: The taste of the Queen Of The Seven Kingdoms is tart, fruity, sharp, funky, and spicy.  There are notes of chardonnay, pear, lemon zest, lemon juice, Belgian yeast, coriander, white pepper, and light malt.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is crisp, tart, and sharp with a dry finish.

Overall pairing: Ommegang's Queen Of The Seven Kingdoms is a very complex, yet drinkable brew... great for HammerFall's wonderfully entertaining and heavy duty rocker "No Sacrifice, No Victory"! 

    

Skål!!  Hails!!