I really enjoy my trend of jumping in on this content once every other month or so. It’s a good opportunity to put my drinking to use. Something like that. We’re still in stout season up here in the great white north, and I had a couple delicacies sitting in my fridge waiting for such an evening. The trick, however, was finding an album to enjoy while… enjoying it. And it really wasn’t that hard. Let’s get into it. Tonight I’m serving up (for myself, obviously) Drawn Into Descent’s The Endless Endeavor and Founders KBS.
The Metal: Drawn Into Descent’s The Endless Endeavor
And the trend of grabbing random promos to listen to is still going strong! I was really itching for some solid atmospheric black metal in recent weeks (nothing new there), so I actually kinda knew what direction I wanted to go in for RtE. Lo and behold, there was a tasty new album from Drawn Into Descent sitting there for me. Ok, not really. What I actually did was skim our promo list and pick something based on genre (black metal), label (Avantgarde Music), and band name (literally anything sad sounding). And here we are! But honestly holy crap I am enjoying this. It is everything I was looking for and more. Structurally brilliant, the five tracks covering over 45 minutes deliver an absolute ride between blistering pace and delicate, sobering instrumental passages. The rhythm is hollow and enveloping, helping to deliver a truly dark emotional complex. I gotta also be real though, I listen to so much of this shit that I lose track. For example, I was just trying to come up with some comparable acts to refer back to in listening to this and I ended up somewhere between not being able to put a finger on one and simultaneously knowing this stuff is like 25% of my library (and that’s a lot). Maybe it’s the alcohol. What a life I lead. Anyway, The Endless Endeavor is awesome. Do not miss this. Here’s a link to an album that isn’t this album:
The Booze: Founders KBS Imperial Stout
Founders will always, always be one of my favorite breweries. They supply my summer session beer (All Day IPA), and their stouts are just ridiculous. Plus, there’s the association with my Detroit trips. And nostalgia counts for something. Or many things. For those unaware, KBS stands for *googles it because my memory is shit* Kentucky Breakfast Stout. It’s brewed with coffee and chocolate and it’s aged in bourbon barrels for a year. So basically it’s perfection. But be careful, it’s an imperial stout so it packs a punch. A 12.2% punch to be precise. But man is it tasty… roasty, chocolatey, smooth… it’s like if dark chocolate were liquified and infused with alcohol… Wait, I feel like that’s actually a thing that exists. Maybe? Who cares. Plenty of care goes into this beer each year and that is totally obvious. Best enjoyed in the winter, listening to atmospheric black metal. If that wasn’t painfully clear.
What a natural pair these two are. I truly spoiled myself with this post this time around. God dammit I love receiving our evcharist. But only ours. To be clear.
“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb
Nine Circles 