Receiving the Evcharist is our weekly feature where we pair choice albums with our favorite libations. Drink from the cup of heresy. This week’s offering: Drouth’s Excerpts From a Dread Liturgy and LA Ale Work’s Sum Sum.
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The Tunes: Drouth’s Excerpts From a Dread Liturgy
Dumping the whole kitchen sink into your sound often produces an end result that feels unfocused, but Portland, OR’s Drouth have always seemed to have a clear vision that keeps their sound tight and focused. In past interviews, Drouth have described their sound as being influenced by “black metal, doom, crust/grind, [and] old-school metal of all kinds,” and the band’s newest album Excerpts From a Dread Liturgy sees them continue to mine every vein available in search of new sounds to twist and mold into their own vision. Excerpts is black metal filtered through a dragonfly’s eye, refracted through facets of death metal, sludge, thrashy crust, and even venturing into post-hardcore/post-metal territory at times. There seems to be nothing this band can’t do, no style they can’t add to the emulsion that is their unique, furious take on extreme metal, and like a good emulsion, every element here holds itself in perfect cohesion. Ripping, classic sounding guitar solos fly over wicked blast beats and guitars that move from second-wave inspired evil to bursts of transcendent melody. No song ends where you think it’s going to go, but every one of the five tracks on Excerpts is a joy to watch unfold.
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The Booze: LA Ale Works’ Sum Sum
After great success with their Dead Cowboy red ale, we are back with more from LA Ale Works, this time the brewery’s lighter seasonal offering. Sum Sum is the brewery’s summer ale, dry hopped with Hallertau hops. Its light, crisp body and subtle lager-like sweetness are a perfect foil to the ever-increasing temperatures here, quenching any thirst that dare rear its head. Not really much else to say: it’s good, and I’m starting to think LA Ale Works beers are a sure bet for me from here on out.
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Cheers, and be good to each other,
– Vincent
