January 13th, 2019 - The Oceanborn Lord Of The Atlas

Hey there rockers and craft brew lovers!  The Meista here today a Lord Of The Atlas Oak Aged Barley Wine Style Ale from 8 Wired Brewing Company and "Oceanborn", the sophomore album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish!

Album Info:

• Artist: Nightwish
• Title: "Oceanborn" (2007 Spinefarm Official Collector's Re-Issue)
• Recorded: August through October 1998 at Caverock Studios in Kitee, Finland
• Release date: December 7th, 1998 (2nd studio album by Nightwish)
• Record company: Century Media
• Production: Tuomas Holopainen and Tero Kinnunen
• Album cover art: Maria Sandell
• Personnel: Tuomas Holopainen (synthesizers and keyboards), Jukka Nevalainen (drums and percussion), Tarja Turunen (lead vocals), Sami Vänskä (bass guitar), and Emppu Vuorinen (lead guitars)
• Additional musicians: Plamen Dimov (violin), Erkki Hirvikangas (cello), Kaisli Kaivola (violin), Esa Lehtinen (flute), Markku Palola (viola), and Tapio Wilska (vocals)
• Musical style: Symphonic metal, power metal
• Sound: Darker than most Nightwish albums and their most ambitious at the time, the sound on "Oceanborn" is big, bold, and bombastic with many intricate layers and faster tempos.  As with all Turunen era Nightwish albums, it combines operatic elements with power metal.
• Major themes: With songs steeped in mythology and fantasy, themes include quests, adventures, life, good vs. evil, the ocean, power, etc.
• Tracks:  
1. "Stargazers"
2. "Gethsemane"
3. "Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean"
4. "Sacrament Of Wilderness"
5. "Passion And The Opera"
6. "Swanheart"
7. "Moondance"
8. 'The Riddler"
9. "The Pharaoh Sails To Orion"
10. "Walking In The Air" (Howard Blake cover)
11. "Sleeping Sun"
12. "Nightquest"
13. "Sleeping Sun" (live)
14. "Swanheart" (live)

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Company (Warkworth, New Zealand)
• Website: https://8wired.co.nz/
• Brew: Lord Of The Atlas Oak Aged Barley Wine Style Ale
• Style: American Barley Wine
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 12.0% 
• Ingredients: New Zealand malt, Australian hops, and English yeast aged on French oak
• Pour: The Lord Of The Atlas pours a deep mahogany red with a thin off-white head that dissipates fairly quickly and leaves trace lacing.
• Nose: The nose is malty, oaky, citrusy, and sweet.  There are aromas of orange marmalade, caramel malt, a bit of booze, oak, light pine, and soft vanilla bean.
• Taste: The taste of the Lord Of The Atlas follows the nose with lots of malty, woody, sweet, and boozy flavors.  There are notes of dried fruit, black tea, brown sugar, rum, and rich toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with mild carbonation, the mouthfeel is thick and sticky, and quite smooth with a dry, slightly boozy, and slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: The Lord Of The Atlas from 8 Wired Brewing is a big, bold, complex brew... great to pair with the bombast and musical prowess of the mighty Nightwish!  Those sweeter notes work great with Turunen's soaring, operatic vocals while the heartier and boozier notes go great with the overall power of the music!

Cheers and hails!!