Thursday, June 18, 2020

June 18th, 2020 - A Fatal Portrait Of The Duchess Of Haze




Good evening evil-doers and hop-heads!  Your drinkin' buddy the Meista here tonight getting the weekend off to the perfect start with a pairing of King Diamond's amazing debut album "Fatal Portrait" and a deliciously citrusy Duchess Of Haze from Fisher Brewing Company!  Hell yeah!  This pairing goes out to the King himself, as it was his birthday earlier this week... so cheers to the King!!  


Album Info: 
  • Artist: King Diamond
  • Title: "Fatal Portrait"
  • Recorded: July 1985
    Release date: February 17th, 1986 (debut album by King Diamond)
  • Record company: Roadrunner Records
  • Production: Rune Hoyer
  • Album cover art: Dzyan, Thomas Holm, and Torbjörn Jörgensen
  • Personnel: Mikkey Dee (drums), Michael Denner (lead guitars) Andy LaRocque (lead guitars), Timi Hansen (bass), and Kim Bendix Petersen aka King Diamond (lead and backing vocals and all guitars on "Voices from the Past")
  • Musical style: Heavy metal, progressive metal, theatrical gothic horror metal, and neoclassical metal
  • Sound: A favorite of mine, in a word, the sound on "Fatal Portrait" is huge!  The dual guitar work of Denner and LaRocque is otherworldly, while the rhythm section of Dee and Hansen is a thunderous monster!  And of course, the King!  His vocals are a musical journey in themselves... wildly high, aggressively evil, and always amusing!
  • Major themes: The first four songs and the finale tell a short story about a haunted portrait with themes of pain, betrayal, murder, death, and insanity.  Other themes on the album include the occult, mythology, evil, death, and All Hallow's Eve!
  • Tracks: 
  1. "The Candle"
  2. "The Jonah"
  3. "The Portrait"
  4. "Dressed In White"
  5. "Charon"
  6. "Lurking In The Dark"
  7. "Halloween"
  8. "Voices From The Past"
  9. "Haunted"
  10. "No Presents For Christmas" (CD bonus track)
  11. "The Lake" (CD bonus track)

Brew Info:
  • Brewery: Fisher Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
  • Website: http://www.fisherbeer.com/
  • Brew: Duchess Of Haze
  • Style: New England Hazy Pale Ale
  • Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
  • ABV: 5.0%
  • Ingredients: Citra and Galaxy hops
  • Pour: The Duchess Of Haze pours a very hazy golden-amber with a 1+ finger, bright white, frothy head that slowly dissipates to a nice cap that leaves sticky, layered lacing.
  • Nose: The nose is citrusy, tropical, floral, and sweet.  There are aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, lime, mango, peach, pineapple, wild flowers, light pine, cereal grain, and soft caramel.
  • Taste: Like the nose, the taste of the Duchess Of Haze' is characterized by big citrus and tropical fruit flavors with more subtle herbal flavors.  There are notes of pink grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, mango, melon, herbal tea, and soft caramel/toffee.
  • Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Duchess Of Haze is very crisp, smooth, and juicy with very low bitterness and a dry, clean finish.

Overall pairing: How can you go wrong with a pairing of any King Diamond album and a hoppy Fisher brew?  It is like a pairing made in hell.  Those bold hoppy notes just go so well with both the subject matter and the exceptional musical delivery, while the fruity flavors go great with the King's insane vocals!  Oh, I picked up my CD copy of "Fatal Portrait" from my buddy Kevin down at the Heavy Metal Shop (www.heavymetalshop.com)... and my LP copy at Lavender Vinyl () as should you!!

Skål and hails!!

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