December 13th, 2024 - The Haze Between Uncertain Hours

 

Hello and happy Friday metal maniacs and hopheads!  The Meista here raising a pint and rocking the hell out to a pairing of a delicious and juicy The Haze Between (Deadhead IPA Series) from DESTIHL Brewery and "The Uncertain Hour", the brilliant 3rd album by the mighty Graveshadow!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Graveshadow
• Title: "The Uncertain Hour"
• Recorded: 2022 at Pus Cavern in Sacramento, California
• Release date: July 15th, 2022 (3rd full-length studio album by Graveshadow)
• Record company: M-Theory Audio
• Production: Justin Aufdemkampe
• Album cover art: Roman Ismaylov
• Personnel: Bones Padilla (drums), Rachl "Raxx" Quinn (lead vocals), Luci Rae (bass), Aaron Robitsch (guitars, vocals, and keyboards), and William Lloyd Walker (guitars)
• Guest musician: Chelsea Murphy (vocals on "The Swordsman")
• Musical style: Heavy metal, power metal with elements of progressive metal, death metal, and symphonic metal
• Sound: A very solid and powerful musical journey, the tracks on "The Uncertain Hour" provide wonderfully crafted and executed songcraft.  Riff-driven, each song is its own little sonic journey with a nod to classic metal while exploring new territory.
• Major themes: With songs steeped in fantasy, folklore, and anime, the album explores themes of good vs. evil, sword play, valor, life and death, war, violence, hope, etc.
• Tracks:

1. "Soldier Of 34"
2. "Gwynnbleidd"
3. "Sea Of Apparitions"
4. "The Swordsman"
5. "Vengeance Of Envy"
6. "Beautiful End"
7. "The Betrayer"
8. "Shadow Battles"
9. "The Two Lived"
10. "Damsel's Finesse"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: DESTIHL Brewery (Normal, Illinois)
• Website: https://www.destihl.com/
• Brew: The Haze Between (Deadhead IPA Series)
• Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 7.7%
• Ingredient: 2-row barley malt, flaked oats, and wheat combined with Citra, Simcoe, El Dorado®, and Idaho 7™ hops
• Pour: The Haze Between pours a very hazy, pale golden-yellow with a frothy, bright white, 1+ finger head with good retention and lots of sticky lacing.
• Nose: The nose is very citrusy, tropical, floral, dank, and herbal.  There are aromas of tangerine, zesty orange peel, lemon zest, grapefruit rind, pineapple, mango, wildflowers, bold pine resin, herbal tea, crackery biscuit, and sweet caramel.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste of The Haze Between is citrusy, tropical, slightly acidic, earthy, and herbal.  Hop-forward, there are notes of tangerine, pink grapefruit juice, orange juice, mango, grassy hops, orange tea, pine, and sweet toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is very crisp, juicy, and smooth with a dry, bitter, slightly boozy finish.

Overall pairing: Those punchy and juicy hop flavors of the DESTIHL The Haze Between are dangerously crushable and work great with the overall explosive power that is Graveshadow!  The sweeter, tropical notes go great with the powerful vocals and soaring guitars while the piney bite goes great with the more aggressive elements of the band!  'Nuff said!

Make sure to check out my interview with Graveshadow lead vocalist Rachl "Raxx" Quinn here: https://youtu.be/TDRuMEcy9qk

Cheers and hails!!