February 24th, 2022 - A Witches Funeral In A Black Forest

 

God kväll craft beer lovers and metal freaks!  The Meista here today pairing "Witches Funeral", the excellent compilation album by Swedish black metalers Nekrokraft and a dark and dangerously delicious Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake Imperial Stout from the folks at Epic Brewing Company!  Hell yeah!! 

Album Info:

• Artists: Nekrokraft
• Title: "Witches Funeral"
• Recorded: 2012 through 2017 at Dead Sparrow Studio in Sweden
  
• Release date: January 19th, 2018 (compilation album by Nekrokraft)
• Record company: The Sign Records
• Production: Nekrokraft
• Album cover art: Julia Edetun
• Personnel: Angst (vocals, bass, and additional guitars), Doc (lead guitar), Ghol (bass), Iron (rhythm guitar), Moloch (drums), and NekroBlaster (drums)
• Musical style: Black metal with elements of thrash metal and death metal
• Sound: Collecting songs from their first 2 EPs ("666 Ways Of Torture" and "Witches Funeral") along with several unreleased early tracks, the sound on "Witches Funeral" is dark and atmospheric, yet raw and chalk full of killer, heavy-duty, aggressive riffs! 
• Major themes: Occultism, folklore, mythology, witchcraft, death, nature, darkness, Satan, violence, horror, etc.
• Tracks:

1. "Burning Ov"
2. "Cometh Arrives"
3. "Satan My Master" (Bathory cover)
4. "Upon A Trek"
5. "Witches Funeral"
6. "The Void"
7. "Return Of The Kvlt"
8. "Angel Of Death" (Slayer cover)
9. "They Swim, They Must Hang"
10. "Wrath Of The Heavens"

 Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://www.epicbrewing.com/
• Brew: Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake Imperial Stout
• Style: Imperial Stout
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 11.0% 
• Ingredients: Marris Otter, 2-Row, Light Munich, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt, and Roasted Barley with Nugget, Chinook, and Cascade hops, and aged exclusively in whiskey barrels with cherries, coconut, and chocolate
• Pour: The Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake Imperial Stout pours an opaque, black as hell/very deep, deep dark brown with a creamy, half finger, light mocha head with good sustain and sticky, sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by roasty, toasty, chocolaty, earthy, sweet, and boozy elements.  There are aromas of baker's dark chocolate, cherries, toasted coconut, dark roasted malts, espresso, toasted walnuts, burnt toffee, sweet caramel, oak, and rich whiskey.
• Taste: The taste of the Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake Imperial Stout follows the nose with big notes of dark chocolate, and bourbon with more subtle flavors of tart cherry juice, nutty coconut, rich coffee, dark roasted malts, cream, and sweet caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake Imperial Stout is very thick, velvety, creamy, and smooth, with a very dry, slightly bitter, sweet, and boozy finish.

Overall pairing: Epic's Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake Imperial Stout is a very complex and flavorful brew that demands your full attention... a perfect companion to the blackened onslaught that is the mighty Nekrokraft!  Those big, bold, and malty notes go great with the darker elements of the album, while the bitterness and boozy bite go great with the more aggressive, straight forward black metal dimensions!  I highly recommend both the album and the brew... but don't be deceived.  These are definitely not for the faint at heart... both will knock you down and tear out your blackened soul!

Skål and hails!