July 2nd, 2015 - Prometheus' Gluten Free Symphonic Saison

Buona sera!  The Meista here pairing "Prometheus — Symphonia Ignis Divinus", the amazing, brand-spanking new album from Luca Turilli's Rhapsody and a Gluton Free Saison from Uinta Brewing Company!  Hails!!
 
Album Info:

• Artist: Luca Turilli's Rhapsody
• Title: "Prometheus — Symphonia Ignis Divinus" ("Prometheus, Symphony of the Divine Fire")
• Recorded: September 2014 through March 2015 at Backyard Studios, Kempten, Germany and Luca Turilli's private studio, Trieste, Italy
• Release date: June 30th, 2015 (2nd studio album by Luca Turilli's Rhapsody)
• Record company: Nuclear Blast
• Production: Luca Turilli
• Album cover art: Stefan “Heile” Heilemann
• Personnel: Alessandro Conti (lead vocals), Patrice Guers (bass), Alex Landenburg  (drums), Dominique Leurquin (guitars), and Luca Turilli (guitars, keyboards, orchestral arrangements, production, engineering, and cover art concept)
• Additional musicians: Jasen Anthony (narrator), Bridget Fogle (vocals), Dan Lucas (vocals), David Readman (vocals), Emilie Ragni (vocals), Ralf Scheepers (vocals), and The Voices Of The Apocalypse (Alessandro Conti, Bridget Fogle, Dan Lucas, Previn Moore, Emilie Ragni, Ralf Scheeper, and Matthias Stockinger) 
• Musical style: Cinematic metal, Symphonic power metal, neo-classical metal with elements of progressive metal, opera, and folk metal
• Sound: Insanely (almost overwhelming) bombastic and dramatic, "Prometheus — Symphonia Ignis Divinus" is a HUGE album!  It's like Mozart hired Iron Maiden to play his music and J.R.R. Tolkien to write the lyrics! 
• Major themes: Thematically the album is a fantastic and "memorable journey between quantum gates, parallel dimensions, myths and legends hiding cosmic truths, ancestral secrets and spiritual revelations". 
• Notes: The album took seven months of composition, three months of production, and over 50 days of mixing.  Lyrics are in Italian and English.
• Tracks: 

1. "Nova Genesis (Ad Splendorem Angeli Triumphantis)"
2. "Il Cigno Nero"
3. "Rosenkreuz (The Rose and the Cross)"
4. "Anahata"
5. "Il Tempo Degli Dei"
6. "One Ring to Rule Them All"
7. "Notturno"
8. "Prometheus"
9. "King Solomon and the 72 Names of God"
10. "Yggdrasil"
11. "Of Michael the Archangel and Lucifer's Fall Part Ii: Codex Nemesis"
12. "Thundersteel" (Cinematic Version, Bonus Track)

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.uintabrewing.com/
• Brew: Gluten Free Saison
• Style: Saison
• Serving: 32 ounce mini growler
• ABV: 4.0%
• Pour: The Gluten Free Saison pours a very cloudy (almost opaque) golden apple yellow hue with a very thin head that dissipates quickly, leaving virtually no lacing.
• Nose: The nose is very fruity and spicy.  There are aromas of soft banana, Belgian yeast, ripe pear, juicy apple, cloves, nutmeg, and hints of millet. 
• Taste: The taste is similar to the nose with lots of fruit ester, spice, and Belgian yeast.  There are notes of banana, pear juice, lemon, subtle pink bubble gum, spiced cider, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, hints of vanilla bean and cream, and white pepper.
• Mouthfeel: Light-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Gluten Free Saison is smooth and crisp with a very spicy finish. 
• Notes: So usually I hate (and I mean HATE) gluten free beers.  However, the Gluten Free Saison from Uinta Brewing Company is a wonderfully well designed and executed brew!

Overall pairing: I picked up this album from my buddy Kevin at the Heavy Metal Shop (www.heavymetalshop.com) on special order yesterday.  And I picked up the mini growler from Uinta Brewing Company today... specifically to pair with this album!   Honestly, I'm not sure if any beer is big enough to match the boldness of this album, but Uinta's Gluten Free Saison makes a very interesting pairing to say the least.  The spicy, yeasty flavors go great with the boldness of the album, while the fruit esters make a nice companion to the beautiful vocals and Turilli's amazing finger board work!

Salute!!