Good evening! One more for you today... tonight I'm pairing Jorn's latest album "Traveller" (a Labor Day weekend purchase of mine) with a Hop Ottin' India Pale Ale (IPA) from Anderson Valley Brewing Company!
The Hop Ottin' IPA pours a very cloudy, clover-honey amber with a frothy and rocky 1-2 finger head that shows strong spider web lacing. The nose is very piney with some grapefruit tanginess and ever so slight notes of dough and caramel. Extremely well-balanced, the taste is initially a bitter punch to the taste buds that mellows from the caramel malts. It is an almost perfect fusion of sweet maltiness and bitter hoppiness. There are floral and citrus notes: pine resin, grapefruit, rosehip, and pepper; and there are sweet and malty notes: toffee, baked bread, and a hint of walnut. Sharp and engrossing, the Hop Ottin' is both refreshing and dry. Coming in at 7% ABV, it has some good bite, but perfectly balanced with the intertwined flavors. It finishes clean with a slight, but very nice lingering bitterness.
Like the biting flavor of the Hop Ottin', "Traveller" hits you right between the eyes from opening track "Overload" on to the final notes of "The Man Who Was King"! Fronted by Norwegian vocalist Jørn Lande (the former German prog metal band Masterplan frontman), Jorn is pure power metal in the tradition of Dio... moving, magical, and utterly powerful!! The 8th studio album by Jorn, "Traveller" was released on June 14, 2013 in Europe and June 11, 2013 in North America. Characterized by a very heavy and booming, yet melodic sound, the album thematically explores life and death. As with anything he is involved with musically, Lande's vocal performance is wonderfully rich, awe-inspiring, and truly explosive! He is joined by the mighty talents of Trond Holter on guitars, Jimmy Iversen also on guitars, Bernt Jansen on bass, and Willy Bendiksen on drums. And these guys are good!! If you are a Dio fan, you MUST check out Jorn! This is pure, head-banging power metal goodness!! Check out Jorn at http://www.jornlande.com/!
Cheers and hails!!
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