December 29th, 2020 - The Scumdogs Of The Universe Have Invaded New Zealand!

 

Good evening and hails metal maniacs and hop-heads!  The Meista here tonight with one more pairing for ya... "Scumdogs Of the Universe", the sophomore album by satirical shock rockers Gwar and a crisp and juicy New Zengland Hazy IPA from the fine folks at Ogden River Brewing Company!  Hell yeah!

Album Info: 

• Artist: Gwar
• Title: "Scumdogs Of the Universe"
• Recorded: 1989
  Release date: January 8th, 1990 (2nd studio album by Gwar)
• Record company: Metal Blade Records
• Production: Ron Goudie, Hypo Luxa, and Hermes Pan 
• Album cover art: ?
• Personnel: Beefcake the Mighty aka Michael Bishop (bass, backing vocals, and lead vocals on "Cool Place to Park"), Oderus Urungus aka Dave Brockie (lead vocals), Balsac the Jaws of Death aka Mike Derks (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), Jizmak Da Gusha aka Brad Roberts (drums), and Flattus Maximus aka Dewey Rowell (lead guitars and backing vocals) 
• Additional musicians: Doug Campbell (bagpipes on "The Horror Of Yig"), Sleazy P. Martini aka Don Drakulich (vocals on "Slaughterama"), Cal Gardener (clarinet on "Love Surgery"), Slymenstra Hymen aka Danielle Stampe (backing vocals), and Sexecutioner aka Chuck Varga (vocals on "Sexecutioner") 
• Musical style: Heavy metal, thrash metal, shock rock, comedy metal with elements of crossover thrash and hip hop
• Sound: Along with the silliness and although they are a parody of thrash and death metal, the members of Gwar are actually well-accomplished musicians and they offer some really killer and aggressive guitar riffs, machine gun fire drumming, and powerful bass lines!
• Major themes: A concept album of sorts about the Scumdogs invading and reigning terror on planet Earth, the humorous and satirical songs on the album include themes of sexual perversion, gore, Lovecraft mythology, horror, killing hippies, killing Nazis, violence, death, destruction, alien enslavement, etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "The Salaminizer"
2. "Maggots"
3. "Sick Of You"
4. "Slaughterama"
5. "The Years Without Light"
6. "King Queen"
7. "Horror Of Yig"
8. "Vlad The Impaler"
9. "Black And Huge"
10. "Love Surgery"
11. "Death Pod"
12. "Sexecutioner"
13. "Cool Place To Park"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ogden River Brewing (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: https://ogdenriverbrewing.com/
• Brew: New Zengland Hazy IPA
• Style: New England / New Zealand India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Ingredients: Motueka and Nelson Sauvin hops 
• Pour: The New Zengland Hazy IPA pours a hazy, pale yellow hue with a 1+ finger, bright-white, frothy head with good retention and lots of soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is tropical, citrusy, and floral.  There are aromas of passionfruit, mango, gooseberries, lemon zest, light grapefruit rind, pale malts, wild flowers, a hint of juniper, and a hint of clover honey.
• Taste: The taste of the New Zengland Hazy IPA follows the nose and is characterized by citrusy, fruity, and floral hops along with light, pale malts.  There are notes of mango, passionfruit, guava, light citrus, white wine, light honey, and crackery biscuit.
• Mouthfeel: Medium in body with moderate carbonation, the New Zengland Hazy IPA's mouthfeel is very crisp, juicy, slightly bitter, yet very smooth with a dry, clean finish.

Overall pairing: The crisp, fruity, juicy, and delicious flavors and aromas of the New Zengland Hazy IPA from Ogden River Brewing is perfect for the intense, aggressive, and profoundly silly and crazy metal stylings of Gwar!  Those bold NZ hop flavors work really well with the the thrash punch while the fruitiness goes great with the over-the-top humor!  'Nuff said!!

Cheers and hails!!