June 14th, 2019 - Old Star Friek

 

God kveld evildoers!  Your drinking pal the Meista here getting a little dark, a little evil, and a little "frieky" with a pairing of the tart and tasty Friek Raspberry & Cherry Sour Ale from Odell Brewing Company and "Old Star", the latest album from Norwegian monster metalists Darkthrone! 

Album Info:

• Artist: Darkthrone
• Title: "Old Star" 
• Recorded: October through November 2018 at Necrohell II Studios
• Release date: May 31st, 2019 (17th studio album by Darkthrone)
• Record company: Peaceville Records
• Production: Nocturno Culto
• Album cover art: Chadwick St. John (titled "The Shephard Of The Deep)
• Personnel: Gylve Fenris ~More Claypool~ Nagell (drums) and Nocturno Culto (electric guitars, bass, and vocals)
• Musical style: Heavy metal with elements of black metal, doom metal, and thrash metal
• Sound: Fusing traditional heavy metal with black metal guitar work and themes, the sound on "Arctic Thunder" harkens back to multiple eras of Darkthrone, but with a more modern take.  It is dark, it is aggressive, it is powerful! It is simple, yet brilliant!  It is all about the riffs!  The vocals are pure, traditional extreme metal. Of the album's sound, Fenris stated: "Old Star‘ – again we are here with THE RIFFS! A while after our previous ‘Arctic Thunder‘ album it became apparent that we would continue in that same style, BLACK OLD HEAVY METAL with slow thrash, classic doom and slow death metal.  As many have focused on the 70s sound over the last 20 years, the mix on our new album has ended up being more 80s than ever. The songs are more metal than ever! Ted‘s songs have a lot of black metal in them, faster and slower but also doomier parts and reoccurring parts. My songs are more linear written, it’s an ancient 80s underground trick, with breaks, all slow heavy or slow thrash, classic doom or slow death.  All in all it is our most 80s album so far and our most metal one to date with drum sound typical for the 80s USA/German market and damned lyrics, which are all written by me. We feel that ‘Old Star‘ is the big brother of ‘Arctic Thunder‘. More solid and with even better riffs."
• Major themes: Death, darkness, coldness, evil, power, nature, the macabre, the mysterious, mythology, etc.
• Tracks:   

1. "I Muffle Your Inner Choir"
2. "The Hardship Of The Scots"
3. "Old Star"
4. "Alp Man"
5. "Duke Of Gloat"
6. "The Key Is Inside The Wall"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Odell Brewing Company (Fort Collins, Colorado)
• Website: http://odellbrewing.com/
• Brew: Friek Raspberry & Cherry Sour Ale
• Style: American Wild Ale
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 6.9% 
• Ingredients: Traditional framboise blended with a lambic kriek and aged in oak barrels
• Pour: The Friek pours a fizzy, murky dark pink/light red hue with a frothy, light pink, half-finger head that dissipates quickly and leaves virtually no lacing.
• Nose: The nose is tart, fruity, slightly sweet, and a little woody.  There are aromas of fresh picked raspberries, sweet strawberry, pie cherries, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, plum, and wet oak.
• Taste: The taste of the Friek is follows the nose with lots of fruity, sour, sweet, and oaky flavors.  There are notes of tart raspberries, sweet strawberries, cranberries, tart cherries, plum, lemon juice, red wine, very light grain, and hints of oak.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp, bubbly, very tart, and refreshing with a dry, lip-puckering finish. 

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Overall pairing: The Friek is a tart, punchy, bright brew that wonderfully compliments the aggressive raw power that is Darkthrone's brilliant "Old Star"!!  'Nuff said!

Skål!!  Hails!!