May 29th, 2025 - Doom Rules Eternally for the Milk Maiden!

 

Hello and happy Thursday evildoers, headbangers, and craft brew lovers!  The Meista here this evening with a pairing of the excellent brand new "Doom Rules Eternally" album by Greek doom metal band Distorted Reflection and a very tasty and bold Milk Maiden Chocolate Milk Stout from Drekker Brewing Company!  Hells yes!

Album Info:

• Artist: Distorted Reflection
• Title: "Doom Rules Eternally"
• Recorded: 2023 at Fragile Studio and CFN Recordings Studio
• Release date: February 9th, 2024 (1st full-length studio album by Distorted Reflection)
• Record company: Iron Shield Records
• Production: Distorted Reflection
• Album cover art: Tomas Arfert
• Personnel: Stelios Pavlou (drums), Kostas Salomidis (guitars and vocals), and Vangelis (bass, synthesizers, and backing vocals)
• Guest musicians: Giannis Drolapas (lead guitar on "The Eternal Gate"), Ross "The Boss" Friedman (lead guitar on "Cassandra"), and Nicholas Leptos (vocals on "Mr. Snake")
• Musical style: Doom metal, traditional heavy metal with a touch of power metal
• Sound: In the tradition of bands like Candlemass, Sorrows Path, and Trouble, Distorted Reflection is heavy and doomy, yet very melodic with soaring power metal guitar elements and great vocals.  Think: Candlemass/Pentagram meets Hammerfall/Fates Warning!  The guitar work alone of Salomidis (and guests) is really quite brilliant and one of the many reasons to check out this great band!  But also, the vocal depth and power of Salomidis along with the driving rhythm section of Pavlou and Vangelis is really rich, powerful, and spellbinding! 
• Major themes: Death, doom, darkness, suffering, dark fantasy, mythology, philosophy, insanity, terror, etc.  
• Tracks: 
1. "Mr. Snake"
2. "Ring Of Fire"
3. "Colours"
4. "Dark Mermaid"
5. "Twilight Zone"
6. "Cassandra"
7. "Victim Of Fate"
8. "Ghosts Of Mind"
9. "The Eternal Gate"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Drekker Brewing Company (Fargo, North Dakota) 
• Website: https://drekkerbrewing.com/
• Brew: Milk Maiden Chocolate Milk Stout
• Style: Milk stout
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0% 
• IBUs: 34
• Pour: The Milk Maiden pours a deep ink black hue with a tan, frothy, 2-finger head with great retention and lots of sticky, soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by chocolatey, roasty, and sweet notes.  There are aromas of rich, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, dark roasted coffee beans, fresh cream, light vanilla bean, and sweet toffee.
• Taste: The taste of the Milk Maiden follows the nose with lots of chocolatey, roasty, and malty flavors.  There are notes of bittersweet bakers' chocolate, chocolate milk, raw cacao nibs, lightly sweetened coffee, dark toasted bread, and burnt toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with low carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Milk Maiden is silky, velvety, and very smooth with a slightly sweet finish.

Overall pairing: The Drekker Milk Maiden Chocolate Milk Stout is a very flavorful brew that demands your full attention... a perfect companion to the crushing doom metal juggernaut that is the mighty Distorted Reflection!  Those big, bold, and chocolatey notes go great with the heavy punch of these tracks!  I highly recommend both the album and the brew!

Cheers and hails headbangers!!  Keep it craft and keep it heavy!