February 23rd, 2014 - Raising A Leffe To A Dead King

How 'bout a rockin' Sunday afternoon pairing for ya from your pal, the Meista?  Today I'm pairing a Leffe Blonde from Abbaye de Leffe S.A. with Cirith Ungol's killer album "King Of The Dead"!

"King Of The Dead" is the sophomore, self-produced album by Ventura, California underground heavy metal band Cirith Ungol.  It was released in July of 1984 on Enigma Record (re-released on CD by Metal Blade Records in September of 1999).  (Big fans of fantasy, the band took their name from J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings books.  Cirith Ungol is the name of both a mountain pass and the black tower that overlooks it in the land of Mordor.)  Akin to early Rush and early Judas Priest with a little Black Sabbath thrown in for good measure, Cirith Ungol's straight-forward rocking sound was heavily influenced by the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement along with 1970 hard rock bands like Humble Pie, Iggy And The Stooges, Rainbow, and Thin Lizzy.  The band at the time was made of up singer Tim Baker with his gravely, screaming vocals (kind of cross between Nazareth's Dan McCafferty and Judas Priest's Rob Halford), Jerry Fogle on fiery fast guitars, Robert Garven with his heavy as hell drumming and percussion, and Geddy Lee-influenced Michael Vujea on bass.  Anyway, I just purchased this kick-ass album along with their debut album "Frost And Fire" on iTunes yesterday and cannot stop listening!  This is how metal should sound!  What a great band and what a great album!! Here's the full track list:

1. "Atom Smasher"
2. "Black Machine"
3. "Master Of The Pit"
4. "King Of The Dead"
5. "Death Of The Sun"
6. "Finger Of Scorn" (by former member, guitarist Greg Lindstrom)
7. "Toccata In Dm" (by Johann Sebastian Bach)
8. "Cirith Ungol"
9. "Last Laugh" (live bonus track on re-mastered version)

Of the album, drummer and founding member Garven once said: "King of the Dead was our best album, the reason was that we had total control over it.  Every album could have been this good if we could have exercised complete control over its production and other things.  This is the album which I feel is our best effort."  I couldn't agree more!  Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "King Of The Dead" (and "Frost And Fire") by Cirith Ungol!! 

The Leffe Blonde from Abbaye de Leffe S.A. is a Belgian pale that pours a translucent, apple cider golden hue into my frosted schooner with a big, rocky, 2-finger foamy head.  The nose is characterized by aromas of soft banana, spicy clove, pink bubble-gum, and yeast.  There are also some nice subtle floral aromas as well.  The mouthfeel is medium-bodied, crisp, and very smooth with some lingering frothiness.  There is a light, syrupy stickiness as well you feel on the back of the tongue.  More of a commercial Belgian ale, the Leffe Blonde is very drinkable with more mellow flavors compared to some of the bigger Trappist Belgian ales, but its style is still wonderfully complex and very well-balanced.  There are notes of pear, chardonnay, pink bubble-gum, Belgian yeast, and cloves, nutmeg, and coriander.  Fairly sweet, light, and refreshing, you have to be somewhat careful throwing this one back as the ABV measures in at 6.60%.  The crisp and refreshing qualities of the Leffe Blonde definitely make for a good pairing to the fast-paced metal goodness found on "King Of The Dead"!  Go get some!!

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