May 31st, 2023 - Forbidden Fruits And Other Failures For Gods

 

Hello metalheads and craft beer freaks!!  Happy Wednesday!  The Meista here with another great pairing for ya...  "Failures For Gods" (24 years old today!) by legendary death metal monsters Immolation and a tart, spicy, and tasty Forbidden Fruit Raspberry Ginger Sour Ale from the fine folks at Red Rock Brewing! 

Album Info:

• Artist: Immolation
• Title: "Failures For Gods"
• Recorded: July 1998 at Millbrook Sound Studios in Millbrook, New York
• Release date: May 31st, 1999 (3rd studio album by Immolation)
• Record company: Metal Blade Records
• Production: Paul Orofino
• Album cover art: Andreas Marschall 
• Personnel: Ross Dolan (bass and vocals), Alex Hernandez (drums), Rob Vigna (guitars), and Tom Wilkinson (guitars)
• Musical style: Death metal
• Sound: Wonderfully produced, intricately textured, and totally embracing an unconventional song structure, yet still powerfully intense and melodic, the sound on "Failures For Gods" is a perfect old school metal album that blends brutal death metal with progressive and technical death metal.  Vigna and Wilkinson create fiery guitar passages throughout while Dolan and Hernandez drive intricately textured rhythms. 
• Major themes: Death, anti-religion, mythology, destruction, hate, ruin, violence, rage, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Once Ordained"
2. "No Jesus, No Beast"
3. "Failures For Gods"
4. "Unsaved"
5. "God Made Filth"
6. "Stench Of High Heaven"
7. "Your Angel Died"
8. "The Devil I Know"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Red Rock Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://redrockbrewing.com/ 
• Brew: Forbidden Fruit Raspberry Ginger Sour Ale 
• Style: Kettle Sour Ale / Fruited Ale
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0% 
• IBUs: 11
• Pour: The Forbidden Fruit pours a very hazy, mauve hue with a bubbly and thin, light pink head that dissipates rather quickly, leaving only a thin ring with light lacing.
• Nose: The nose is fruity, tart, spicy, and slightly sweet.  There are aromas of freshly picked raspberries, raspberry preserves, tart lemon juice and zest, cranberries, freshly cut ginger, light grains, and a hint of earthy honey.
• Taste: The taste of Forbidden Fruit follows the nose with notes of fruity, tart, and spicy flavors.  There are notes of tart raspberry, lemon juice, lemon zest, cranberry juice, spicy ginger beer, fresh ginger, light cereal grain, and a hint of sweet honey.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Forbidden Fruit is very crisp, tart, and spicy with a dry, slightly bitter, clean finish.

Overall pairing: The Red Rock Forbidden Fruit is a tart, crisp, and spicy brew... a great foil to the extreme and brutal death metal intensity of Immolation's killer "Failures For Gods" album!  Those tart and fruity notes blend wonderfully well with the thunderous crunch of the guitars, bass, and drums while the spicy ginger flavor goes great with the brutal vocals and dark lyrics!  Happy birthday to this great album!  'Nuff said!

Cheers and hails... keep it metal and keep it craft!!