Hey there metal heads and artisan brew lovers! Happy Friday! Your pal the Meista here today getting the weekend started off right with a very special pairing, a tasty and unique Cosmic Chaos Sour Hoppy Dark Ale from 8 Wired Brewing Company (outta New Zealand) and "Valcata", the brand new, mind-blowingly good, self-titled debut album by symphonic metal opera project Valcata. Valcata is the brainchild of the wonderfully talented composer and musician Oha Cade!
Album Info:
- Artist: Valcata
- Title: "Valcata"
- Recorded: Produced completely online in New York and around the world in 2019
- Release date: Scheduled for release next Friday, October 18th, 2019 (1st studio album by Valcata)
- Record company: Independent production
- Production: Ilias Gogakis
- Album cover art: Andy Pilkington
- Personnel: Steelianos Amirides (guitars), Zuberoa Aznárez (vocals), Liel Bar-Z (vocals), Oha Cade (vocals, synths, and composer), Kenneth Élan (vocals), Pablo Hopenhayn (strings), Hadi Kiani (vocals), Josh Munnell (vocals), Babis Nikou (bass), Jonas Schutz (drums), Angel Wolf-Black (vocals), and Mary Zimmer (vocals)
- Musical style: Symphonic metal, power metal, progressive metal
- Sound: The sound on "Valcata" is big, bold, and bombastic with many intricate layers and mesmerizing melodies and harmonies. The songs are characterized by soaring vocals, guitars, and keys, and a highly intense symphonic metal sensibility. With 8 outstanding vocalists, and a wonderfully talented group of multinational musicians, this is not an album you play as "background" music; this is an album that demands your full attention!!
- Major themes: "Valcata" is a symphonic metal opera, a concept album about aliens coming to earth in search of resources. "The planet Valcata has suffered mass extinction from a heatwave that has escalated over the last century. Special teams have been deployed into the galaxies in search of salvation. Earth is one of many possible destinations." Themes on the album include space travel, survival, environmentalism, conservation, life and death, hope, acceptance, etc.
- Tracks:
- "Stars"
- "Our Quest"
- "The Turning"
- "Horror Machine"
- "Life And A Million"
- "3-2-1"
- "Beyond"
- "Escalade"
- "The Termination"
- "Valcata"
Brew Info:
- Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Company (Warkworth, New Zealand)
- Website: https://8wired.co.nz/
- Brew: Cosmic Chaos Sour Hoppy Dark Ale
- Style: Sour Black India Pale Ale (IPA)
- Serving: 22 ounce bottle
- ABV: 7.5%
- Pour: The Cosmic Chaos pours a deep dark brown (almost black) with a frothy, bright white 1+ finger head with great retention and lots of soapy lacing.
- Nose: The nose is an interesting and unique blend of tart, malty, and hoppy aromas. There are notes of plum, black cherry juice, lemon, orange rind, light grapefruit, red wine vinegar, roasted malt, dark chocolate, raisin, prune, and hints of toffee.
- Taste: The taste of the Cosmic Chaos follows the nose with lots of malty, hoppy, and sour fruit flavors. There are notes of sour flavors upfront (dried fruit, plum, cherry, lemon, orange), light hoppy flavors throughout, and a malty dark ale finish (dark chocolate, cocoa, raisin).
- Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel is tart, sticky, slightly bitter, and a bit acidic, yet actually quite smooth with a dry finish.
Overall pairing: The Cosmic Chaos from 8 Wired Brewing is a very unique, big, bold, complex brew... perfect to pair with the bombast and musical prowess of the incredible "Valcata" metal opera! Those sweeter notes work great with the soaring, operatic vocals while the heartier and boozier notes go great with the overall power of the music! Visually, I think the label and album artwork go great together. And the dark and mysterious color of the beer is perfect for the overall themes on the album. If you are into symphonic metal like I am, you definitely will want to get a copy of this killer album!! Learn more about Valcata at https://www.valcata.com/!
Cheers and hails!!
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