January 24th, 2025 - Arroz Con Amigos From Hell

 

Hello and happy Friday rockers, rollers, metalheads, evil-doers, and artisan beer freaks!  The Meista here today getting the weekend off to a great start with a pairing of "Friends From Hell", the sophomore album by NWOBHM band Witchfinder General and a crisp, crushable, and refreshing Arroz Con Amigos Rice Lager from Lumberbeard Brewing in collaboration with Valle Dorado Cervezeria!  Hells yeah!

Album Info: 

• Artist: Witchfinder General
• Title: "Friends From Hell"
• Recorded: 1983 at Horizon Studios in Coventry, UK
• Release date: 1983 (2nd full-length studio album by Witchfinder General)
• Record company: Heavy Metal Records / 
• Production: Robin George
• Album cover art: David Bonham (photography), Brett Prestige (photography), and Garry Underhill (artwork and layout)
• Personnel: Phil Cope (guitars), Graham Ditchfield (drums), Rod Hawks (bass), and Zeeb Parkes (vocals)
• Musical style: New Wave of British Heavy Metal, traditional metal, hard rock
• Sound: 1983's "Friends of Hell" is a fun, flavorful album with a bit of wickedness and whim.  Witchfinder General hails from England and the NWOBHM movement with a sound similar to Diamond Head, Satan, and Tygers of Pan Tang.  With such songs as "Love on Smack, " "Shadowed Images," and "Friends of Hell," Witchfinder General combines Black Sabbath-esque, doom with a bit of tongue-in-cheek misogyny and "cheeky," 1960s, English horror, as their name denotes.  If you are not familiar and a fan of late '70s and early '80s NWOBHM, this is definitely a band you should check out!
• Major themes: Love lust, sex, music, evil, rebellion, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Love On Smack"
2. "Last Chance"
3. "Music"
4. "Friends From Hell"
5. "Requiem Of Youth"
   
6. "Shadowed Images"
7. "I Lost You"
8. "Quietus Reprise"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Lumberbeard Brewing (Spokane, Washington) and Valle Dorado Cervezeria (Yakima, Washington)
• Website: https://lumberbeardbrewing.com/ and https://drinkvalledorado.com/
• Brew: Arroz Con Amigos
• Style: Rice Lager
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 4.8%
• Ingredients: Rice lager brewed with Saaz hops
• Pour: The Arroz Con Amigos pours a clear, bright golden-yellow hue with a frothy, bright white, thin finger head with good retention and light lacing.
• Nose: The nose of the Arroz Con Amigos is grainy, and malty.  There are aromas of steamed rice, freshly cut hay, crackery biscuit, light lemon zest, noble hops, and a hint of honey.
• Taste: Like the nose, the taste is a grainy, crackery, biscuity, and slightly sweet.  There are notes of crackery malts, crisp grains, and a hint of honey.
• Mouthfeel: Light-bodied and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel of the Arroz Con Amigos is very crisp and very smooth with a dry, clean finish.

Overall pairing: The Arroz Con Amigos is a crisp, refreshing, and very crushable beer... a perfect brew (or three) to throw back whilst blasting the very rockin' "Friends From Hell" from the mighty Witchfinder General!  Those light, but flavorful rice notes make for a great foil to the darker lyrical subject matter and the intense guitar work while the easy-drinking nature of the beer goes well with the joyous nature of the music!

CHEERS... HAILS!!