March 2nd, 2019 - The Glorious Viking Square Granary

God kveld!  Your pal the Meista here this evening with another great pairing for ya: Enslaved's debut album "Vikingligr Veldi" and a tasty Granary Kellerbier from TF Brewing!

Album Info:

• Artist: Enslaved
• Title: "Vikingligr Veldi"
• Recorded: March through April 1993 at Grieghallen Studio in Norway
• Release date: February 28th, 1994 (1st full-length studio album by Enslaved)
• Record company: Deathlike Silence Productions
• Production: Enslaved and Pytten (aka Eirik Hundvin)
• Album cover art: Asle Birkeland
• Personnel: Ivar Bjørnson (guitars, keyboards, piano, and electronics), Grutle Kjellson (bass guitar and vocals), and Trym Torson (drums)
• Musical style: Viking metal, black metal
• Sound: With a more straightforward black metal sound than their later, more progressive and intricate albums, with "Vikingligr Veldi", Enslaved carried the torch of the earlier black metal bands into the latter 1990s.  It is raw, cold as the northern winds, aggressive, and black as hell!  The fact that Bjørnson was only 15 years old at the time of recording is mind-blowing!  His guitar work, though somewhat simple, is mesmerizing and darkly emotional.  You will find no "clean" vocals here as with later Enslaved albums, but Kjellson's infernal shrieking vocals are a wonderous thing to behold!
• Major themes: With lyrics mostly in Medieval Icelandic and one track in Old Norwegian, the lyrical content on "Vikingligr Veldi" is steeped in Viking history and lore with themes about darkness, winter, the elements, death, the gods, war, nature, etc. 
• Tracks:   

1. "Lifandi lif undir hamri" ("Living Life Beneath The Hammer")
2. "Vetrarnótt" ("A Winter's Night")
3. "Midgards elda" ("Fires Of Midgard")
4. "Heimdallr" "(Heimdall")
5. "Norvegr" ("Norway")

Brew Info:

• Brewery: TF Brewing (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: www.tfbrewing.com
• Brew: Granary Kellerbier
• Style: German Pilsner
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 4.0% 
• Pour: The Granary Kellerbier pours a clear golden-yellow with a frothy, bright white, 2-finger head with great sustain and lots of sticky, layered lacing.
• Nose: The nose is grainy, bready, toasty, and slightly sweet.  There are aromas of toasted bread, cereal, summer grass, Pilsner malt, a touch of caramel, and a slight hint of sulfur.
• Taste: The taste of the Granary Kellerbier follows the nose with lots of grainy, bready, and grassy flavors.  There are notes of crackery biscuit, toasted sourdough bread, and grassy hops.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium in body and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Granary Kellerbier is very crisp, smooth, and with a clean, dry finish.

Overall pairing: I paired the TF Brewing Granary Kellerbier with Enslaved's "Vikingligr Veldi" for the simple reason that they both invoke an old world feel and those crisp, dry notes of the brew are perfect for the icy themes of the album!  There is also something almost majestic about both the album's music and those wonderfully tasty Pilsner aromas and flavors!

Skål!!  Hails!!