March 31st, 2014 - A Slave To The Power Of Oatmeal Stout... or... Captain Bastard And The Ancient Mariner!

Good evenin' my friends!  The Meista here pairing a couple favorites of mine... Iron Maiden's amazing 1984 album "Powerslave" and Squatters Captain Bastard's Oatmeal Stout from the Utah Brewers Cooperative!

Released on September 3rd, 1984, "Powerslave" is the 5th studio album by heavy metal gods Iron Maiden.  Recorded in Nassau, Bahamas (with the help of copious amounts of booze), "Powerslave" is one of the most compelling and important metal albums to date... not just for Maiden, but for metal as a whole.  Musically, the album is fast-paced, aggressive, bombastic, and richly textured.  The dual guitar work of Adrian Smith and Dave Murray is soaring, majestic, and awe-inspiring!  Steve Harris' bass work is thunderous stampede of a cavalry!  Nicko McBrain's drumming is ground zero of a splitting atom!  And Bruce Dickinson's powerful vocal range defined and inspired metal millions! Lyrically, the albums themes are centered around war, turmoil, aggression, and human suffering.  The album opens with "Aces High", a fiery song about WWII pilots.  The second track and a fan favorite, "2 Minutes To Midnight" references the Doomsday Clock and specifically September of 1953 when the clock reached 23:58.  All of the tracks on this album are classic metal monsters... from "Flash Of The Blade" to "Duellists" to "Back In The Village".  But my two favorites of the album (and maybe of the band) are the final two tracks: "Powerslave" (about ancient Egypt and reign of the pharaohs) and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (a musical re-telling of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's epic power of the same name)!  BRILLIANT!!

Squatters Captain Bastard's Oatmeal Stout from the Utah Brewers Cooperative is a roasty and very drinkable stout... one of the first craft beers I ever tried and a great beer to accompany the power of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave"!  It pours a deep mahogany with a thin mocha head.  The nose is chocolaty and earthy.  There are notes of dark roasted malt, dark roasted coffee, and plenty of dark chocolate.  With very little carbonation, the mouthfeel is very cream, very smooth.  A fairly mellow stout (but very drinkable and very tasty), Captain Bastard's is characterized by flavors of dark buttered breads, molasses, baker's dark chocolate, roasted coffee, and some subtle smoky notes.  It goes down easy and finishes with a nice chocolaty note.  "Take a swig of the pig!"

Cheers and hails!!