April 21st, 2024 - Chocolate Raspberry Stout & Other Endless Forms Most Beautiful

 

Hello and happy Sunday!  The Meister here pairing "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" (2-Disc Mediabook), the latest from Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish and a rich and tasty Chocolate Raspberry Stout from the fine folks at Kiitos Brewing Company!  This pairing goes out to my buddy David Jimenez... cheers bro!!

Album Info:

• Artist: Nightwish
• Title: "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" (2-Disc Mediabook)
• Recorded: August through September 28th, 2014 at Röskö Campsite in Eno, Finland and October 2014 in London
• Release date: March 31st, 2015
• Record company: Nuclear Blast/Roadrunner
• Album cover art: Janne & Gina Pitkänen
• Personnel: Troy Donockley (uilleann pipes, low whistle, bodhran, bouzouki, lead vocals (on tracks 6 and 8), and backing vocals (on tracks 3, 6, 8, 9, and 10), Marco Hietala (bass guitar, lead vocals (on tracks 2, 4 and 11), acoustic guitars, and backing vocals (on tracks 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8), Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards and piano), Floor Jansen (lead vocals), and Emppu Vuorinen (guitars)
• Additional guest musicians: Richard Dawkins (narration in "Shudder Before the Beautiful" and "The Greatest Show on Earth"), Kai Hahto (drums), Metro Voices (choir), James Shearman (Conductor), and Pip Williams (orchestral arrangements)
• Musical style: Symphonic metal, power metal, folk metal, gothic metal, progressive metal
• Sound: Bombastic, cinematic, heavy, symphonic - just a few of the terms used to describe the sound of Nightwish.  Jansen's first album with the band is a triumph.  Her huge vocal range is both beautiful and mesmerizing.  The band is as tight as ever and Donockley's addition as a full-time member is very welcome.  He brings a wonderful depth and originality to the already amazing and brilliant line-up of Hietala, Holopainen, and Vuorinen! 
• Major themes: A loose concept album inspired by the writings of naturalist Charles Darwin, Holopainen states that themes include "beauty of life, the beauty of existence, nature, science".  He adds, "The previous album was a tribute to the power of imagination. Endless Forms Most Beautiful would be an equal tribute to science and the power of reason."
• Tracks: 

Disc 1:

1. "Shudder Before The Beautiful"
2. "Weak Fantasy"
3. "Élan"
4. "Yours Is An Empty Hope"
5. "Our Decades In The Sun"
6. "My Walden"
7. "Endless Forms Most Beautiful"
8. "Edema Ruh"
9. "Alpenglow"
10. "The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula"
11. "The Greatest Show On Earth"

Disc 2:

1. "Shudder Before The Beautiful" (instrumental)
2. "Weak Fantasy" (instrumental)
3. "Élan" (instrumental)
4. "Yours Is An Empty Hope" (instrumental)
5. "Our Decades In The Sun" (instrumental)
6. "My Walden" (instrumental)
7. "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" (instrumental)
8. "Edema Ruh" (instrumental)
9. "Alpenglow" (instrumental)
10. "The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula" (instrumental)
11. "The Greatest Show On Earth" (instrumental)

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Kiitos Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: kiitosbrewing.com/
• Brew: Kiitos Chocolate Raspberry Stout
• Style: Irish Stout
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0% 
• IBUs: 24
• Pour: The Kiitos Chocolate Raspberry Stout pours an opaque and deep mahogany chestnut brown with a creamy and billowy mocha, 1-finger head with good sustain and lots of sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is roasty, toasty, chocolaty, fruity, nutty, and earthy.  There are aromas of semi-sweet baker's chocolate, milk chocolate, cocoa, freshly picked raspberries, raspberry jam, fresh brewed dark roasted coffee, vanilla bean, and toffee.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste is sweet, malty, and chocolaty.  There are notes of sweet milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and cocoa, along with rich roasted malts, tart raspberry jam, vanilla, and soft caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to full-bodied with lower carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Kiitos Chocolate Raspberry Stout is smooth and creamy with a dry, sweet finish.

Overall pairing: The sweet, rich, fruity, and chocolaty flavors and aromas of the Kiitos Chocolate Raspberry Stout are perfect for the introspective, honest, wonderfully melodic, bombastic, and beautiful symphonic metal stylings of Nightwish's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful"!  'Nuff said!

Cheers!!

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."  - Charles Darwin