November 11th, 2024 - A Space Cruz Into the Core Manifold

 

Hello and happy Monday my friends!  The Meister here today pairing the great self-title, debut album by melodic prog metal band The Core Manifold and a very tasty and crushable Space Cruze Cold India Pale Ale from the fine folks at the Ogden Beer Company!  

Album Info:

• Artist: The Core Manifold
• Title: "The Core Manifold"
• Recorded: 2024 at Wave-M Studio in Wauconda, Illinois
• Release date: 2024 (1st full-length studio album by The Core Manifold)
• Record company: Wave-M Studio
• Production: The Core Manifold
• Album cover art: 
• Personnel: Dave Heeman (bass), Michael Hickey (lead and rhythm guitars, classical, 6-string, and 12-string acoustic guitars, keyboards, and drum programming), Joe Reh (drums), Albert Rybka (vocals), and Matt Verden (lead and rhythm guitars) 
• Musical style: Heavy metal, progressive metal / rock
• Sound: Blending melodic heavy metal with more progressive elements, with their debut album, The Core Manifold presents a wonderfully engaging, complex, and cohesive album!  The 11 amazing tracks on this album provide a lesson in the art of strong songwriting, execution, and production.  Each song is a perfect microcosm of harmony, melody, and riffage.
• Major themes: Isolation, pain, introspection, humanity, , etc.
• Tracks:  

1. "Seven Thousand Days"
2. "The Hollow"
3. "Vanishing Point"
4. "Solvay Clan"
5. "Your Time Will Come"
6. "I Need Space"
7. "Darkhorse"
8. "Spoken Silence"
9. "Pressure"
10. "Pain"
11. "Silver"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Ogden Beer Company (Ogden, Utah)
• Website: http://www.ogdenbeercompany.com/
• Brew: Space Cruz Cold India Pale Ale
• Style: Cold India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0%
• IBUs: 40
• Ingredients: Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops
• Pour: The Space Cruz pours a hazy golden-yellow hue with 2-finger, bright white, frothy head with great retention and displays lots of sticky, intricate lacing.
• Nose: The nose is a characterized by citrusy, floral, dank, and grainy aromas.  There are aromas of grapefruit rind, lemon zest, pine resin, cracked wheat, freshly cut hay, and grassy hops.
• Taste: Well-balanced, the Space Cruze has a nice blend of IPA and light lager flavors.  There are notes of grapefruit juice, lemon zest, orange pith, pine, grainy crackers, fresh herbs, and light honey.
• Mouthfeel: Medium in body and moderately carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp and refreshing with a dry, slightly bitter finish, yet clean. 

Overall pairing: The Ogden Beer Company's Space Cruz is a crisp, hoppy, yet crushable brew... great for an evening of killer melodic metal tunes by The Core Manifold!  'Nuff said!

Make sure to check out my interview with the incredibly talented and friendly Albert Rybka, lead vocalist of The Core Manifold here: https://youtu.be/TKEe9YjeB_w

Cheers!!