December 3rd, 2019 - The Big Bad Baptist's Dark Vanilla Brandy Oath

Good evening evil-doers!!  The Meista here tonight getting heavy and dark with a pairing of the self-titled debut (and only) album from The Oath and a Big Bad Baptist Vanilla Brandy Barrel-Aged Stout from Epic Brewing Company! 

 
Album Info:

• Artist: The Oath
• Title: "The Oath"
• Recorded: August 20th through August 30th, 2013 at Studio Cobra in Stockholm, Sweden
• Release date: March 17th, 2014 (debut album by The Oath)
• Record company: Rise Above Records
• Production: Martin "Konie" Ehrencrona
• Album cover art: Joe Dilworth
• Personnel: Linnéa Olsson (guitars) and Johanna Sardonis (vocals)
• Additional musicians: Simon Bouteloup (bass), Henrik Palm (additional guitars), and Andrew Prestidge (drums)
• Musical style: Doom metal, stoner metal/rock with elements of rock and roll, blues rock, psychedelia, and folk rock
• Sound: Steeped in '70s and early '80s proto-metal and NWOBHM (Angel Witch, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pentagram, etc.) feel and also firmly planted in the modern doom metal scene, the sound found on "The Oath" is both heavy and sensuous.   brink the doom metal hammer down with a sound reminiscent of Candlemass, yet wholly original, while Sardonis' haunting vocals are soulfully and emotionally beautiful.  I'm reminded a little of Nancy Wilson, but with tinges of evil.  Of the album, Olsson stated, “This album represents Johanna and me and our dedication to our music.  Everything about this band is about me and her – our relationship to each other, our differences as people and musicians, and the unity that we are in The Oath.  She possesses strengths that I lack and the other way around.  Musically, my riffs are the dirt and her vocals, the diamonds.  I have a friend who cleverly put that the world is made up by two kinds of people: the werewolves and the vampires.  By that standard, I am a werewolf and Johanna is a vampire. You can interpret that as you like.”
• Major themes: The occult, death, doom, dreams, evil, magic, darkness, drugs, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "All Must Die"
2. "Silk Road"
3. "Night Child"
4. "Leaving Together"
5. "Black Rainbow"
6. "Silver & Dust"
7. "Death Delight"
8. "In Dream"
9. "Psalm 7"

    Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://www.epicbrewing.com/
• Brew: Big Bad Baptist Vanilla Brandy Barrel-Aged Stout
• Style: Imperial Stout
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 12.8%
• Ingredients: Maris Otter Malt, 2-Row Brewer Malt, Crystal, Light Munich Malt T1, 2-Row chocolate malt, 2-row black malt, roasted barley malts; Nugget, Chinook, and Cascade hops; Caffe Ibis and Cocoa Nibs
• Pour: The Big Bad Baptist pours an opaque deep, dense dark chocolate brown (almost ink black) with a firm and creamy 1-finger mocha head with great sustain and intricate and sticky lacing throughout.
• Nose: The nose is very aromatic... sweet, bready, nutty, earthy, and chocolately.  There are notes of brandy, vanilla bean, fresh cream, semi-sweet dark chocolate, milk chocolate, freshly baked fudge brownies, dark roasted coffee, coconut, roasted hazelnuts, oak, molasses, licorice, tobacco, and burnt toffee.
• Taste: Following the nose, the taste is characterized by rich, sweet, and boozy brandy, vanilla, cream, hazelnut, baker's chocolate, milk chocolate, cocoa, bicscuit, molasses, toffee, and espresso.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with very low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Big Bad Baptist is thick, chewy, creamy, and velvety with a dry, boozy, and slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: The rich, boozy, robust, and earthy flavors of Epic's Big Bad Baptist Vanilla Brandy Barrel-Aged Stout are perfect for the sludgy, doomy, heavy rockin' '70s sound of The Oath, while the sweet chocolate and vanilla notes and silkiness of the mouthfeel is perfect for the powerful, and sensuous vocals of Sardonis! 

Prost, cheers, and hails to The Oath!!

Me with The Oath vocalist Johanna Sardonis