September 25th, 2023 - The Unbearable Lightness & Nightmare of Being Beer

 

God kväll craft beer fiends and headbangers!  The Meista here tonight getting heavy and aggressive with a pairing of At The Gates' most recent album "The Nightmare Of Being" and a bold and hoppy The Unbearable Lightness of Beer Pale Ale from the fine folks at Fisher Brewing!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: At The Gates
• Title: "The Nightmare Of Being" 
• Recorded: Drums recorded November 9th through 14th, 2020 in Studio Gröndal, guitars and bass recorded November 17th through 29th, 2020 in Sonic Train Studio, Varberg, vocals and saxophone recorded December 1st through 6th, 2020 at Welfare Sounds, Gothenburg, classical guitar recorded December 2020 in Morgantown Music Fjugesta, and strings and brass/woodwind instruments recorded on December 14th, 2020 at Soundlab, Örebro 
• Release date: July 2nd, 2021 (7th studio album by At The Gates)
• Record company: Century Media Records
• Production: Jens Bogren 
• Album cover art: Eva Nahon 
• Personnel: Jonas Björler (bass, Mellotron, Hammond organ, piano, Rhodes, Chamberlin, and backing vocals), Adrian Erlandsson (drums and percussion), Martin Larsson (rhythm guitars), Tomas Lindberg (vocals), and Jonas Stålhammar (lead guitar) 
• Guest/additional musicians: Lars-Erik Almberg (bass tuba), Marcus Carlsson (bassoon), Tino Fjeldli (violin), Rajmund Follmann cello), Anders Gabrielsson (saxophone on "Garden Of Cyrus"), Alberto Alvarez Garcia (clarinet), Gunnar Hjorth (classical guitar on "Spectre Of Extinction"), Fredrik Hulthe (viola), Andy La Rocque (lead guitar on "Spectre Of Extinction"), Peter Nitsche (double bass), and Jill Widen (flute) 
• Musical style: Gothenburg-style melodic death metal, death metal with elements of progressive metal
• Sound: Combining muted guitar work with bombastic and harmonic hooks along with aggressive vocals and classical instruments, the sound on "The Nightmare Of Being" is classic At The Gates, yet with some really interesting progressive elements.  Like all of their albums, the tracks here are gritty, cerebral, intense, and definitive.  
• Major themes: Death, darkness, magic, fantasy, mythology, chaos, knowledge, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "Spectre Of Extinction"
2. "The Paradox"
3. "The Nightmare Of Being"
4. "Garden Of Cyrus"
5. "Touched By The White Hands Of Death"
6. "The Fall Into Time"
7. "Cult Of Salvation"
8. "The Abstract Enthroned"
9. "Cosmic Pessimism"
10. "Eternal Winter Of Reason"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Fisher Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.fisherbeer.com/
• Brew: The Unbearable Lightness of Beer Pale Ale
• Style: American Pale Ale (APA)
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• IBUs: 35
• Ingredients: German Ale yeast, Simcoe, Amarillo and Zappa hops in the mash, and dry-hopped with Mosaic and Citra
• Pour: The Unbearable Lightness of Beer pours a hazy, deep bronze-amber with a billowy and creamy, off-white, 1+ finger head with great sustain and lots of sudsy, sticky, and layered lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by citrusy, floral, earthy, and herbal hops, and more subtle sweeter malts.  There are aromas of grapefruit rind, lemon zest, herbal tea, pine resin, cedar, wildflowers, doughy bread, toasted malts, a hint of onion, and soft, sweet caramel/toffee.
• Taste: The taste of the Unbearable Lightness of Beer follows the nose with lots of citrusy, earthy, and herbal flavors along with crackery maltiness.  There are notes of grapefruit juice, tangerine,  crackery biscuit, pine, black tea, and soft caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is crisp, slightly bitter, yet smooth with a dry, bitter finish
• Additional notes: The beer was named in honor of Milan Kundera, author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", who passed away earlier this year.

Overall pairing: Brash, flavorful, and complex, the Unbearable Lightness of Beer is a huge blast of hoppy and interesting flavors... perfect for the brutality, brilliance, and death metal prowess of the mighty At The Gates!!  'Nuff said!!

Check out the interview I did with At The Gates vocalist Tomas Lindberg back in 2019 here: https://brewsandtunes.blogspot.com/2019/10/october-13th-2019-it-still-has-to-be.html

Hails!!  Skål!!