July 24th, 2026 - A Space Cowgirl in the Unicursal Dimension

 

Hey there evil-doers and hop freaks!  Happy Friday!  The Meista here pairing "Unicursal", the brilliant album by death metal band Nocturnus A.D. and a crisp, roasty, and bitting Space Cowgirl Coffee Blonde Ale from my friends at Fisher Brewing Company!  Hell yeah!  This pairing is dedicated to the memory of the late, great Mike Browning, who passed away earlier this month... so very much before his time.  My deepest and sincerest condolences to his family and friends.  

Album Info:

• Artist: Nocturnus A.D.
• Title: "Unicursal"
• Recorded: 2024 at New Constellation Studios in Orlando, Florida 
• Release date: May 17th, 2024 (2nd studio album by Nocturnus A.D.)
• Record company: Profound Lore Records 
• Production: Jarrett Pritchard
• Album cover art: Uwe Jarling (artwork) and Chimère Noire (design and layout)
• Personnel: Mike Browning (drums, djembe, percussion, and lead vocals), Demian Heftel (lead and rhythm guitars, dumbek, and synthesizers), Josh Holdren (keyboards, samples, and djembe), Belial Koblak (lead and rhythm guitars, synthesizers, djembe, ebow, and backing vocals), and Daniel Tucker (bass)
• Musical style: Technical death metal, progressive death metal
• Sound: With "Unicursal", Nocturnus A.D. incorporates keyboards, sound effects, and science fiction-themed lyrics into traditional death metal and continues the story and sound from the brilliant 1990 Nocturnus album "The Key" and the 2019 Nocturnus A.D. album "Paradox".  As with everything Browning created, "Unicursal" is a wonderfully nuanced journey of complexity, depth, intensity, and artistic integrity.  And it is heavy as hell!  Along with Browning's powerfully intense drumming, Heftel's and Koblak's fiery and intricate guitar work is otherworldly, Holdren creates an ethereal tapestry of soaring keys, and Tucker lays down some heavy-duty grooves!
• Major themes: A science fiction concept album continuing the original story about a cyborg that traveled back in time to destroy Christianity, themes on the album include Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish iconography and mythology, anti-religion, space and time travel, the occult, darkness, violence, survival, ritual, death, destruction, horror, planes of existence, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Intro"
2. "The Ascension Throne Of Osiris"
3. "CephaloGod"
4. "Mesolithic"
5. "Organism 46B"
6. "Mission Malkuth"
7. "Yesod, The Darkside Of The Moon"
8. "Hod, The Stellar Light"
9. "Netzach, The Fire Of Victory"
10. "Outro"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Fisher Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.fisherbeer.com//
• Brew: Space Cowgirl Coffee Blonde Ale
• Style: Coffee Blonde Ale 
• Serving: 25-ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0% 
• Ingredients: "Several pounds of ground coffee is used to achieve this--all from The Salt Lake Roasting Company.  This custom blend includes exotic beans from Honduras, Guatemala and Ethiopia."
• Pour: The Space Cowgirl pours a clear, golden-amber hue with an off-white head, half-finger head that dissipates to a thin ring with trace lacing.
• Nose: The nose is roasty, earthy, malty, toasty, and slightly hoppy.  There are aromas of rich, strong coffee beans, barley, hints of pine resin, and light caramel. 
• Taste: The taste of the Space Cowgirl follows the nose with lots of roasty, malty, hoppy, and earthy flavors.  There are notes of dark roasted coffee, crackery biscuit, toasted bread, black tea, light pine, and soft caramel.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel is crisp, with a slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: The Space Cowgirl is a delightfully crisp, roasty, rich, and punchy brew... a great beer for crushing whilst raising your horns and banging your head to the ingenuity and ingenious sound and concepts of Nocturnus A.D.'s amazing "Unicursal"!

Cheers and hails!!  Rest in peace, Mr. Browning!

And make sure to check out my interview with the late, great Mike Browning from five years back: https://youtu.be/Y7x53ZiW7bE