April 25th, 2026 - Into the Electric Castle Gate

 

Hello and happy Saturday proggers, rockers, and craft beer lovers!  The Meista here today pairing a delicious Castle Gate Schwarzbier from my friends at Ogden Beer Company and the wonderfully amazing "Into The Electric Castle (A Space Opera)" from the Ayreon rock opera from the brilliant mind of Arjen Anthony Lucassen!!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Ayreon
• Title: "Into The Electric Castle (A Space Opera)"
• Recorded: 1998 at the Electric Castle in the Netherlands, drums recorded at RS 29, and Fish's vocals recorded at The Farm in Scotland
• Release date: 1998 (3rd studio album by Ayreon)
• Record company: InsideOut Music
• Production: Arjen Anthony Lucassen
• Album cover art: Jef Bertels
• Personnel: Roland Bakker (Hammond organ), Edwin Balogh (Roman character vocals), Peter Daltrey (The Voice character vocals), Sharon den Adel (Indian character vocals), Jay van Feggelen (Barbarian character vocals), Fish  (Highlander character vocals), Taco Kooistra (cello), Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Hippie character vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, bass, Minimoog, mellotron, and keyboards), René Merkelbach (keyboards), Clive Nolan (keyboards), Ernö Olah (violin), Jack Pisters (sitar), Edward Reekers (Futureman character vocals), Anneke van Giersbergen (Egyptian character vocals), Thijs van Leer (flute), Damian Wilson (Knight character vocals), Robert Westerholt and George Oosthoek (Death character vocals), Ton Scherpenzeel (keyboards), Robby Valentine (piano and keyboards), and Ed Warby (drums)
• Musical style: Progressive metal/rock, power metal, symphonic metal, hard rock with elements of folk, electronica, experimental and classical music
• Sound: Incredibly powerful, complex, and mesmerizing, the sound on Ayreon's "Into The Electric Castle" is hard to describe... in a word BRILLIANT!  There are so many amazing elements, voices, musicians!  It is truly a masterpiece of progressive rock/metal music. Ayreon employs elements of hard rock, metal, folk, symphonic, and progressive rock in the tradition of bands like E.L.P., Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Kansas, and Gentle Giant, but with a fresh, modern approach.  This album "is the most pleasant-sounding album I’ve made so far", says Arjen. “And that is mainly due to the analog equipment I used. Like vintage synthesizers from the 70′s, which still have that warm, instantly recognizable sound. I had enough of triggered drums, samples and prefab digital sounds. I’m a sucker for contradictions. "Into The Electric Castle" is one to start with. But I also like the idea of telling a sci-fi story and using equipment that – in some cases – people might find outdated."
• Major themes: A sci-fi/fantasy concept album that tells the story of 8 individuals (each played by a different vocalist) from various eras of Earth's history that have all been transported together to another planet and/or plane of existence.  These adventurers find themselves brought to this place of "no-time and no-space" by an ancient alien race that wants to study human emotion.  They are guided to the Electric Castle by a mysterious Voice.  The characters are all exaggerated stereotypes inspired by B-movies.  Arjen stated that he rented old B-movies for inspiration to see how Romans, Barbarians, and Egyptians were portrayed in the 1950s and 60s. “I like this tongue in cheek-thing, although I take the music itself very seriously.”  Themes on the album include love, loss, pain, sorrow, death, childhood, deception, vengeance, pride, inner strength, hope, mythological tropes, history, fantasy, etc.
• Tracks: 

Disc 1:

1. "Welcome To The New Dimension"
2. "Isis and Osiris (Let the Journey Begin / The Hall of Isis and Osiris / Strange Constellations / Reprise)"
3. "Amazing Flight (Amazing Flight in Space / Stardance / Flying Colours)"
4. "Time Beyond Time"
5. "The Decision Tree (We're Alive)"
6. "Tunnel Of Light"
7. "Across The Rainbow Bridge"

Disc 2:

1. "The Garden of Emotions (In the Garden of Emotions / Voices in the Sky / The Aggression Factor)"
2. "Valley Of The Queens"
3. "The Castle Hall"
4. "Tower Of Hope"
5. "Cosmic Fusion (Soar on the Breeze / Death's Grunt / The Passing of an Eagle)"
6. "The Mirror Maze (Inside the Mirror Maze / Through the Mirror)"
7. "Evil Devolution"
8. "The Two Gates"
9. "Forever Of The Stars"
10. "Another Time, Another Space"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ogden Beer Company (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: http://www.ogdenbeercompany.com/ 
• Brew: Castle Gate Schwarzbier
• Style: German-style Schwarzbier
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Ingredients: 
• Pour: The Castle Gate pours a deep, dark brown (almost black) with 2+ finger, mocha, creamy and frothy head with great retention and lots of soapy, sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a characterized by malty, roasty, grainy, floral hops, and lightly herbal aromas.  There are aromas of roasted malts, dark toasted bread, light cocoa, a hint of coffee, herbal hops, and burnt toffee.
• Taste: Well-balanced, the Castle Gate is a nice blend of bready, grainy, malty, and herbal flavors.  There are notes of toasted bread, bread crust, roasted barley, crackery biscuit, a hint of chocolate, soft caramel, and herbal hops.
• Mouthfeel: Medium in body and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is crisp and smooth with a dry, clean finish. 

Overall pairing: The bold, dark, yet crushable flavors and aromas of the Castle Gate Schwarzbier from Ogden Beer Company is a great brew for the bombast and fantasy brilliance of "Into The Electric Castle (A Space Opera)"!  The roasty, toasty, and malty flavors are great for all the mind-blowingly awesome guest singers and musicians and how well attuned they are to one another, the songwriting, and storyline! 

Make sure to check out my interview with the legendary Arjen Lucassen from waaaaaay back in December 2013 here: https://brewsandtunes.blogspot.com/2013/12/december-6th-2013-progressive-waves.html

Cheers!!