January 26th, 2025 - Peak Busting in Utgard

 

God kveld!  Your pal the Meista here tonight pairing "Utgard", the wonderful 15th studio album by the innovative Norwegian metal band Enslaved and a hoppy and bold Peak Buster Double IPA from Ghostfish Brewing Company!

Album Info:

• Artist: Enslaved
• Title: "Utgard"
• Recorded: 2019 through 2020 at Duper & Solslottet Studios, Conclave & Earshot, and Peersonal Sound in Bergen, Norway 
• Release date: October 2nd, 2020 (15th studio album by Enslaved)
• Record company: Nuclear Blast
• Production: Iver Sandøy, Ivar Bjørnson, and Grutle Kjellson
• Album cover art: Truls Espedal
• Personnel: Ivar Bjørnson (electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, piano, electronics, effects, sequencer, percussion, and backing vocals), Arve Isdal (lead guitars), Grutle Kjellson (bass, mouth harp, electronics, effects, and lead and backing vocals), Iver Sandøy (drums and backing vocals), and Håkon Vinje (keyboards and lead and backing vocals)
• Additional musicians: Martin "Bellhammer" Horntveth (percussion, synthesizers, glockenspiel, tubular bells, rototoms, and programming), Inger Sunneva Peersen (backing vocals on "Distant Seasons"), and Sonja Elisabeth Peersen (backing vocals on "Distant Seasons")
• Musical style: Progressive metal, progressive black metal, folk metal, Viking metal, doom metal
• Sound: Like its predecessor, "Utgard" is steeped in the traditional progressive metal and blended with black metal and folk metal.  The sound is atmospheric, dark, brooding, and very melodic with intricate rhythms and time changes.  Like all of Enslaved's works, "Utgard" is a brilliant, emotional, and mesmerizing musical journey! 
• Major themes: Viking history and lore, Norse mythology, paganism, ancient Nordic spirituality, nature, death, winter, etc. 
• Tracks: 

1. "Fires In The Dark"
2. "Jettegryta"
3. "Sequence"
4. "Homebound"
5. "Útgarðr"
6. "Urjotun"
7. "Flight Of Thought And Memory"
8. "Storms Of Utgard"
9. "Distant Seasons"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ghostfish Brewing Company ()
• Website: https://ghostfishbrewing.com/ 
• Brew: Peak Buster Double IPA
• Style: Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) / Imperial IPA
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 8.0%
• IBUs: 95
• Ingredients: Water, malted millet, buckwheat (Grouse Malting), malted rice (Eckert Malting), brown rice, beet sugar, Summit, Azacca, Centennial and Eureka hops, and yeast 
• Pour: The Peak Buster pours a slightly hazy, golden-amber hue with a frothy, 1-finger, off-white head with good retention and lots of soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is citrusy, tropical, dank, piney, and malty.  There are aromas of grapefruit rind, tangerine, orange and lemon zest, freshly cut mango, pineapple, wet pine needles, light onion, and burnt toffee.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste of the Peak Buster is very citrusy, tropical, earthy, herbal, and malty.  There are notes of pink grapefruit juice, orange, tangerine, passionfruit, mango, pine resin, white pepper, and caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Peak Buster is  finish.

Overall pairing: The Ghostfish Peak Buster Double IPA's bold and complex hoppy aromas and flavors make it the perfect brew for the musical genius that is Enslaved's "Utgard"!  Those bitter hop notes go great with the darker lyrics and more aggressive elements while the sweeter notes blend well with the progressive elements of the album.  I also love how the can artwork looks against the album art along with my Viking horn mug!  The combination makes for a really perfect evening!  'Nuff said!

Skål!!  Hails!!