January 23rd, 2020 - Junior Astro-Antithesis Juice

Good evening and hails evil-doers!  Your drinkin' buddy the Meista here tonight getting aggressive with "Antithesis", the 4th studio album by technical death metal monsters Origin and a Junior Astronaut Juice from Illuminated Brew Works!  This pairing goes out to Sarah Griffin.  Thanks for the request Sarah... cheers!

Album Info:

• Artist: Origin
• Title: "Antithesis"
• Recorded: late 2007 through early 2008 at Visceral Sound in Bethesda, Maryland
  Release date: April 1st, 2008 (4th studio album by Origin)
• Record company: Relapse Records
• Production: Origin
• Album cover art: Orion Landau
• Personnel: Mike Flores (bass and backing vocals), James Lee (lead vocals), John Longstreth (drums), Paul Ryan (guitars and backing vocals), and Jeremy Turner (guitars and backing vocals)
• Musical style: Technical death metal
• Sound: Complex and challenging, and totally brutal, Origin's sound on "Antithesis" incorporates odd time signatures, insanely explosive blast beats, monsterously intricate sweep picking and arpeggios, and a healthy abundance of perfectly layered growls and screams!  At times almost overwhelming, the tracks on "Antithesis" are wonderfully and tightly controlled chaos!  This is powerful stuff my friends.
• Major themes: Death, the destruction of man, violence, misanthropy, knowledge, isolation, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "The Aftermath"
2. "Algorithm"
3. "Consuming Misery"
4. "Wrath Of Vishnu"
5. "Finite"
6. "The Appalling"
7. "Void"
8. "Ubiquitous"
9. "The Beyond Within"
10. "Antithesis"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Illuminated Brew Works (Chicago, Illinois)
• Website: https://www.ibw-chicago.com/
• Brew: Junior Astronaut Juice
• Style: American India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 6.0%
• Ingredients: Mosaic and Pacifica hops
• Pour: The Junior Astronaut Juice pours a hazy golden-yellow with a 2-finger, bright white, creamy head with great retention and lots of intricate, soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is citrusy, fruity, earthy, floral, and herbal.  There are aromas of grapefruit rind and juice, lemons, tangerine, orange, mango, passion fruit, wild flowers, pine resin, a hint of bay leaves, summer grass, and toasted cracker.
• Taste: The taste of the Junior Astronaut Juice is characterized by lots of citrusy, tropical, and earthy flavors.  There are notes of tangerine, orange peel, pink grapefruit juice, light mango, pine, herbal tea, and a hint of soft caramel.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp, yet smooth with a dry, slightly astringent finish.

Overall pairing: Along from the alien/astronaut imagery, I picked the Illuminated Brew Works Junior Astronaut Juice to pair with Origin's "Antithesis" because those bright, fruity, citrusy flavors make for a great foil to the technical and brutal insanity that is Origin!  Also, the Junior Astronaut Juice is incredibly crushable... and what's better than death metal when you are crushing things?!

HAILS!