April 26th, 2020 - Forever Black, Forever Pale In Grid City

Hello and hails rockers and craft brew lovers!  The Meista here today pairing "Forever Black", the kickass, brand new album by Cirith Ungol and a Pale Ale from new Salt Lake brewery Grid City Beer Works!  Hell yeah!!  This pairing goes out to my friends Sonia and Jason who brought me this tasty brew and my metal brother Drewcifer!  Cheers and hails buddies!!

Album Info:

• Artist: Cirith Ungol
• Title: "Forever Black"
• Recorded: 2019
• Release date: April 24th, 2020 (5th studio album by Cirith Ungol)
• Record company: Metal Blade Records
• Production: Cirith Ungol, Ron Goudie, Brian Slagel
• Album cover art: Michael Whelan 
• Personnel: Tim Baker (lead vocals), Jimmy Barraza (guitars), Robert Garven (drums), Jarvis Leatherby (bass), and Greg Lindstrom (bass, guitars, and keyboards)
• Musical style: Heavy metal, power metal, doom metal, progressive metal
• Sound: Characterized by fantasy-based lyrics and a fast-paced, aggressive, and epically doomy musical assault, Cirith Ungol's tunes are a hybrid between late 1970s hard rock and early 1980s heavy metal, very much in the vein of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) bands like Angel Witch, early Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Tygers of Pan Tang.  The songs are monstrous rock classics... powerful, epic, and heavy as hell!
• Major themes: Fantasy, mythology, sword and sorcery, good vs. evil, life and death, power, destruction, darkness, nightmares, etc.
• Notes: This is the first Cirith Ungol studio album in nearly 30 years!!
• Tracks:   

1. "The Call"
2. "Legions Arise"
3. "The Frost Monstreme"
4. "The Fire Divine"
5. "Stormbringer"
6. "Fractus Promissum"
7. "Nightmare"
8. "Before Tomorrow"
9. "Forever Black"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Grid City Beer Works (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://gridcitybeerworks.com/
• Brew: Grid City Pale Ale
• Style: American Pale Ale (APA)
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 4.6%
• IBUs: 55
• Ingredients: Cryo-Mosaic and Cryo-Citra hops, Golden Promise and Caramalt malts
• Pour: The Grid City Pale Ale pours a golden honey, amber with an eggshell white, 1-finger, bubbly head with good retention and sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is very aromatic... earthy, soapy, dank, herbal, and floral.  There are aromas of pine resin, sage, cedar, grapefruit rind, pineapple, a hint of mango, biscuit, and wild flowers with a hint of caramel.
• Taste: The taste of the Grid City Pale Ale follows the nose with lots of punchy, bitter, dank, and earthy and tropical flavors.  There are notes of grassy hops, pine, pineapple, grapefruit rind, soft mango, crackery biscuit, black tea, and a touch of caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and moderately-carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp, with a very dry, slightly bitter, yet clean finish.

Overall pairing: The Grid City Pale Ale from Grid City Beer Works is a punchy, yet very drinkable and refreshing, crisp brew... great for pairing with the very underrated metal power that is Cirith Ungol!  The complexity and bite of the beer aligns perfectly with the depth and heavy metal purity of the wonderful tracks on "Forever Black"!

Cheers and hails!!