June 24th, 2022 - Verminous And Misdirected

 

Hello and happy Friday craft beer fiends and headbangers!  The Meista here today getting heavy and aggressive with a pairing of The Black Dahlia's most recent album, "Verminous" and a tasty Misdirected American-Style India Pale Ale from Shades Brewing!

Album Info:

• Artist: The Black Dahlia Murder
• Title: "Verminous" 
• Recorded: Late 2019 through early 2020 at The Pipeyard Studio in Plymouth, Michigan and Shred Light District in Morristown, New Jersey 
• Release date: April 17th, 2020 (9th studio album by Black Dahlia Murder)
• Record company: Metal Blade Records
• Production: Brandon Ellis and The Black Dahlia Murder; Brian Slagel (executive producer)
• Album cover art: Juanjo Castellano
• Personnel: Alan Cassidy (drums), Brandon Ellis (lead guitars and backing vocals), Brian Eschbach (rhythm guitars and backing vocals), Mas Lavelle (bass), and Trevor Strnad (lead vocals)
• Additional musicians: Michaël Ghelfi (sewer ambiance) 
• Musical style: Melodic death metal, death metal
• Sound: With influence from classic death metal and classic metal in general, with "Verminous", The Black Dahlia Murder has created another great album with lots of killer riffs and hooks, dynamic drumming, and powerful songwriting.  Of the band's sound, Strnad once commented: "I've always said that we're melodic death metal. We are mostly influenced by Swedish bands and Carcass. The heavy end of our sound is the American style creeping in, with some Floridian influences like Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation and that kind of stuff. We've been labeled more often because of our look than our sound, which is dumb, and speaks volumes about what kind of geniuses are out there!" 
• Major themes: Darkness, death, violence, horror, the underworld, the occult, etc.
• Notes: Sadly, Strnad committed suicide on May 11th, 2022. 
• Tracks:  

1. "Verminous"
2. "Godlessly"
3. "Removal Of The Oaken Stake"
4. "Child Of Night"
5. "Sunless Empire"
6. "The Leather Apron's Scorn"
7. "How Very Dead"
8. "The Wereworm's Feast"
9. "A Womb In Dark Chrysalis"
10. "Dawn Of The Rats"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Shades Brewing (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://www.shadesbrewing.beer/
• Brew: Misdirected American-Style India Pale Ale
• Style: American India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 12 ounce bottle
• ABV: 5.0% 
• Pour: The Misdirected pours a clear golden-yellow/orange color with a billowy, 2-finger, bright white head with great retention and lots of sticky, intricate, layered lacing.
• Nose: The nose is citrusy.  There are aromas of grapefruit rind, orange pith, black tea, pine resin, wild flowers, bitter herbs, bready malt, summer grass, and soft caramel.
• Taste: The taste of the Misdirected is earthy, herbal, malty, spicy, and citrusy.  There are notes of black tea, grapefruit, tangerine, grassy hops, pine, soft caramel/toffee, and a peppery finish.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is very crisp with a slightly bitter, dry, and lightly spicy finish.

Overall pairing: Flavorful and complex, yet very drinkable, the Misdirected is a blast of hoppy and citrusy flavors... perfect for the brutality, brilliance, and melodic death metal prowess of the mighty The Black Dahlia Murder!!  'Nuff said!!

Hails!!