March 20th, 2022 - Double Jam Assassins ‎

 

Hey there rivet-heads and craft beer freaks!  Your dinking pal The Meista here today with a pairing of W.A.S.P.'s killer "Double Live Assassins" album and a bold and delicious Big Bad Baptist Double Jam from Epic Brewing Company!   Hell yeah!  

Album Info:

• Artist: W.A.S.P.
• Title: "Double Live Assassins"
• Recorded: 1997 at various venues during the "K.F.D." tour
• Release date: February 24th, 1998 (2nd live album released by W.A.S.P.)
• Record company: CMC International Records
• Production: Blackie Lawless
• Album cover art: Hugh Gilmour
• Personnel: Mike Duda (bass guitar and backing vocals), Chris Holmes (lead guitar), Stet Howland (drums), and Blackie Lawless (lead vocals and rhythm guitar)
• Musical style: Heavy metal, shock rock, glam metal, industrial metal
• Sound: This is pure, straightforward, uncomplicated L.A. metal with no apology and an unquenched hunger for sex and booze!  As with any and all W.A.S.P. albums, "Double Assassins Live" is in-your-face, unapologetic, straight-ahead metal.  The most impressive aspect of this album in my opinion is the overly aggressive guitar work (strike that... make that the overly aggressive guitar attack!) of Chris Holms (one of his last with W.A.S.P.) and Blackie's vocals.  The firecracker drumming is by Stet Howland and Mike Duda provides the thunderous, galloping bass and back-up vocals.  This is serious goddamned metal!  They combine their early "hair" metal classics with the somewhat disturbing industrial metal of "K.F.D."
• Major themes: Desire, lust, sex, excessive drinking, drugs, partying, rebellion, greed, violence, revenge, horror, darkness, death, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "The Medley: 1). On Your Knees 2). I Don't Need No Doctor 3). Hellion 4). Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)"
2. "Wild Child"
3. "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)"
4. "L.O.V.E. Machine"
5. "Killahead"
6. "I Wanna Be Somebody"
7. "U"
8. "The Real Me"
9. "Kill Your Pretty Face"
10. "The Horror"
11. "Blind In Texas"
12. "The Headless Children"
13. "The Idol"
14. "Crimson Idol Medley: 1). Titanic Overture 2). The Invisible Boy 3). I Am One 4). The Great Misconception of Me"
15. "Little Death"
16. "Mean Man"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: https://www.epicbrewing.com/
• Brew: Big Bad Baptist Double Jam Imperial Stout
• Style: Imperial Stout
• Serving: 22 ounce bottle
• ABV: 11.0% 
• Ingredients: Marris Otter, 2-Row, Light Munich, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt, and Roasted Barley with Nugget, Chinook, and Cascade hops, and aged exclusively in whiskey barrels with raspberries, blackberries, coffee, and cacao
• Pour: The Big Bad Baptist Double Jam Imperial Stout pours an opaque, black as hell/very deep, deep dark brown with a creamy, half finger, light mocha head with good sustain and sticky, sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by roasty, toasty, chocolaty, earthy, sweet, and boozy elements.  There are aromas of baker's dark chocolate, tart raspberries and black berries, light toasted coconut, dark roasted malts, espresso, toasted walnuts, burnt toffee, sweet caramel, oak, and rich whiskey.
• Taste: The taste of the Big Bad Baptist Double Jam Imperial Stout follows the nose with big notes of dark chocolate, and bourbon with more subtle flavors of tart raspberry juice, black berry jam, raspberry jam, cherry juice, rich coffee, dark roasted malts, cream, and sweet caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Big Bad Baptist Double Jam Imperial Stout is very thick, velvety, creamy, and smooth, with a very dry, slightly bitter, sweet, and boozy finish.

Overall pairing: The Epic Big Bad Baptist Double Jam is a very complex and flavorful brew that demands your full attention... a perfect companion to the mighty W.A.S.P.!  Those big, bold, and malty notes go great with the darker elements of the album, while the bitterness and boozy bite go great with the more aggressive, straight forward metal dimensions!  'Nuff said!

Cheers!!  Hails!!