August 2nd, 2024 - Altars of Madness in a Chapel of Ghouls

 

Hello evil-doers, metal maniacs, and hop heads!  Happy Friday!  Today I'm pairing Morbid Angel's official debut album, "Altars Of Madness" and a hoppy and juicy Chapel Of Ghouls Hazy IPA from TRVE Brewing!  Hell yeah!!


Album Info:

• Artist: Morbid Angel
• Title: "Altars Of Madness"
• Recorded: December 1988 at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida
• Release date: May 12th, 1989 (1st album by Morbid Angel)
• Record company: Combat / Earache
• Production: Dig and Morbid Angel
• Album cover art: Dan Seagrave (Of the album cover, Seagrave stated: "This was something I'd been working on at home, which the band saw partially finished. It consequently became my first Death Metal cover. Prior to that I'd been making album covers for British thrash bands like Warfare, and Hydravein. Even though I was 18 when I did it, I still think it's quite interesting. It's not supposed to be spherical as has been suggested. It's more like a flat disk made of a fossil material, that has captured souls.")
• Personnel: Trey Azagthoth (lead and rhythm guitars), Richard Brunelle (lead and rhythm guitars), Pete Sandoval (drums), and David Vincent (bass and vocals)
• Musical style: Death metal
• Sound: Incredibly fast, aggressive, and intricate, with "Altars Of Madness" (along with Death's "Scream Bloody Gore") completely changed everything about heavy metal and music in general!  It is complex, technical, and brutally aggressive.  Interestingly enough, Azagthoth stated that he was listening to a lot of psychedelic music (particularly Pink Floyd) at the time and that it was very influential on his writing.  He abandoned the use of traditional scales and stated: "I would just pick an area on the guitar and play it without really looking at it. I'd connect it in a different way."
• Major themes: Insanity, the occult, Hell, evil, darkness, Satanism, the infernal, aggression, violence, power, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Immortal Rites"
2. "Suffocation"
3. "Visions From The Dark Side"
4. "Maze Of Torment"
5. "Lord Of All Fevers & Plagues"
6. "Chapel Of Ghouls"
7. "Bleed For The Devil"
8. "Damnation"
9. "Blasphemy"
10. "Evil Spells"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: TRVE Brewing Company (Denver, Colorado)
• Website: https://www.trvebrewing.com/
• Brew: Chapel of Ghouls Hazy IPA
• Style: New England India Pale Ale (NEIPA)
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 6.5%
• Ingredients: Citra, Mosaic, Nelson, and Riwaka hops, and Troubadour Trvth, Antero, Proximity Munich 10, and Oat malts
• Pour: The Chapel of Ghouls pours a very hazy, pale, golden orange-yellow hue with a frothy and firm, eggshell white, 2+ finger head with great retention and lots of sticky, intricate lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by citrusy, tropical, and floral aromas.  There are notes of freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest and pith, grapefruit rind, tangerine, pineapple, kiwi, light mango, wildflowers, and soft caramel.
• Taste: The taste follows the nose with lots of citrusy and tropical flavors.  There are notes of pink grapefruit juice, orange peel, tangerine, kiwi, light mango, herbal tea, crackery biscuit, and soft caramel/toffee. 
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp, frothy, and fairly smooth with a dry, slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: Along with the beer being named for the Morbid Angel song of the same name, the punchy, fruity, and hoppy flavors and aromas of the Chapel of Ghouls Hazy IPA are perfect for the head-banging insanity that is Morbid Angel's "Altars Of Madness"!  Those crisp flavors enhance the precision and technical mastery of Azagthoth's and Brunelle's fiery guitars, while the bitter hop notes are perfect for the powerful rhythm section of Sandoval and Vincent!

HAILS!!  Raise those glasses and horns to Morbid Angel!!