May 3rd, 2025 - Welcome to the Theatre... Mind the Space Debris!

 

Hello and happy Saturday proggers, rockers, rollers, and hoppy craft beer lovers!  The Meista here on this sunny, lazy day paring Pangaea's excellent sophomore album "Welcome To The Theatre" and a hoppy and tasty Space Debris India Pale Ale from Epic Brewing Company!  Yes!

Album Info:

• Artist: Pangaea
• Title: "Welcome To The Theatre"
• Recorded: August 1997 at Soundtek Studios in Campbell, California
• Release date: 1999 (2nd studio album by Pangaea)
• Record company: Angular Records / Hargadein Music Group Records / Musea Records
• Production: Robert Berry
• Album cover art: Rainer Kalwitz (artwork) and Mattias Norén (logo)
• Personnel: Darrell Masingale (lead and backing vocals, and lead guitar), Ron Poulson (bass and backing vocals), Andi Schenck (drums and percussion), and Corey Schenck (keyboards, guitars, and backing vocals)
• Musical style: Progressive rock with elements of classic rock, classical, heavy metal, and world music
• Sound: Building off their approach to song structure and execution from the first excellent album, with "Welcome To The Theatre", Pangaea presents another inspirational and richly textured collection of tracks that perfectly blend neo-prog, rock, AOR, and more subtle Americana influences.  
• Major themes: Life, nature, fantasy, dreams and nightmares, darkness, history, contemplation, introspection, solitude, isolation, seeking knowledge, etc.
• Tracks:

1. "Autumn Monsoon"
2. "Crimson"
• i. Overture
• ii. The Deep Blue
3. "Dark Room"
4. "Ride It Easy"
5. "The White Shaman"
6. "The Fall Of Rome"
7. "Altar Of The Dragon"
8. "The Hobo, The Dog & The Moon"
9. "Crying For You"
10. "Fanfare For One World"
11. "The Nightmare"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.epicbrewing.com/
• Brew: Space Debris India Pale Ale
• Style: American India Pale Ale (IPA)
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 6.2%
• Ingredients: 2-Row Brewers malt, Caramel 20 malt, Honey malt, and Amarillo, Centennial, Citra, Nugget hops
• Pour: The Space Debris IPA pours a hazy, golden yellow-amber hue with a 1-finger, off-white head with great retention and sticky, spider web lacing.
• Nose: The nose is characterized by citrusy, dank, floral, herbal, and malty aromas.  There are notes of grapefruit rind, tangerine, orange tea, wet pine needles, cannabis, bready malts, a hint of onion, wildflowers, and burnt toffee. 
• Taste: Well-balanced, the taste follows the nose with dank, citrusy, and malty flavors.  There are notes of grapefruit juice, orange zest and pith, pine resin, doughy bread, black tea, thyme, black pepper, and caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Space Debris IPA is oily, yet very crisp with a dry, slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: The Epic Brewing Space Debris IPA is a flavorful and complex, yet crushable brew that works perfectly well with the sonic storytelling and musical mastery of Pangaea's unique style of progressive rock!  Those complex flavors as well as the can label really work well with Pangaea's quintessential sound and visual presentation of the stellar "Welcome To The Theatre" album cover art! 

Make sure to check out my interview with Pangaea band members here:

• Andi and Corey Schenck: https://youtu.be/B6_ryAM0tNI
• Ron Poulsen: https://youtu.be/YSNXL0kNBdI

Cheers!!  Rock on!!