February 17th, 2024 - A Demonstrous Demon 5

 

Hey there rebels, rockers, thrashers, and craft brew freaks!  Happy Saturday!  Your drinkin' buddy the Meista here today with another great pairing for ya... Demonica's first and only album "Demonstrous" (on its 14th birthday!) and a spicy and flavorful Demon 5 Belgian Ale from my friends and family at Fisher Brewing Company!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Demonica
• Title: "Demonstrous"
• Recorded: February through May 2009 at Sonic Room Studios in Livermore, California, Flatline Audio in Denver, Colorado, and Earplug Studio and Mahina Studio in Copenhagen, Denmark
• Release date: February 17th, 2010 (1st full-length studio album by Demonica)
• Record company: Spiritual Beast
• Production: Demonica 
• Album cover art: Gustavo Sazes 
• Personnel: Marc Grabowski (bass), Klaus "Hyr" Hansen (vocals), Mark Hernandez (drums), Craig Locicero (guitars), and Hank Shermann (guitars) 
• Musical style: Thrash metal with elements of extreme metal and alternative metal
• Sound: The sound on "Demonstrous" can be characterized as "blistering thrash metal" with a touch of blackness.  It is fast, full of adrenaline, and well balanced.  The album opens with the very fast, very powerful, and dark song, "Demon Class" that sets the stage for the intensity of the entire album. 
• Major themes: Demons, evil, darkness, the occult, rage, anger, pain, fear, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Demon Class"
2. "Ghost Hunt"
3. "My Tongue"
4. "Luscious Damned"
5. "Below Zero"
6. "Alien Six"
7. "Palace Of Glass"
8. "Fast And Furious"
9. "Summoned"
10. "Astronomica"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Fisher Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.fisherbeer.com/
• Brew: Demon 5 Belgian Ale
• Style: Belgian Golden Ale
• Serving: 32 ounce crowler can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Ingredients: "Yeast was harvested from the Beast of Zion, this beer's older brother." 
• Pour: The Demon 5 pours a slightly hazy, golden-yellow hue with a thin, bright white head that dissipates fairly quickly, leaving only trace lacing.
• Nose: The nose is bready, spicy, and fruity.  There are aromas of robust spices (cardamon, nutmeg, and cloves), subtle fruit esters (banana, pear, green grapes, and apple), .
• Taste: The taste is like the nose: spicy, fruity, and malty.  There are notes of pear juice, white grape juice, grape seed, ripe banana, cloves, light apple, and hints of caramel.  It "acts like the Belgian devils you know well, but with way less alcohol."
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with good carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Demon 5 is crisp and spicy, yet very smooth, with a dry, slightly spicy finish.

Overall pairing: The Demon 5 from the fine folks at Fisher Brewing is a very crushable and good offering of the style... great to pair with the intensity and heavy metal punch that is the mighty Demonica!  Those spicy notes go great with the darker lyrics and aggressive vibe, while the crushable maltiness is great for the overall metal attack!!  The very cool and a little trippy instrumental track, "Astronomica" finishes off "Demonstrous".  Like the Demon 5, "Astronomica" goes down smooth and is a great clean finish to the whole.   'Nuff said!

And make sure to check out my interview with Demonica and Forbidden guitarist Craig Locicero here: https://youtu.be/cVGnHZtPtAk 

Cheers and hails!!