For prior Evcharists my pairing of music and drink has tended to depend more on the latter, with the accompanying album just so happening to fit in some way — this time music led the charge. Drink from the cup of heresy with this week’s offerings: ass-kicking death metal on Torture Rack’s Primeval Onslaught and ass-kicking beer with Creative Creature’s The Cake Eater.

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The Tunes: Torture Rack — Primeval Onslaught

If you’ve paid any attention to the world of death metal this year, then you’ll know 20 Buck Spin is on an absolute fucking roll with Ulthar, VoidCeremony, Lunar Chamber, and much more. Primeval Onslaught is the latest offering from the label, and what you see on the album cover is what you get — Torture Rack present a brutal, primal death metal assault free of superfluous musical qualities such as “melody” and “technicality.” Ten tracks in twenty-six minutes, Primeval Onslaught gets to the blunt, gore-soaked point quickly and with full force. I’m not too much of a death metal guy anymore, but this is simply put a solid throwback to the the genre’s early greats. Torture Rack handily alternate between chunky palm-muted grooves and blast beats (with no riff ever overstaying it’s welcome) backed by that superb bass tone emblematic of early death metal; plus there’s plenty of wah pedal-infused shredding and trem bar dive bombs to satisfy any upper register needs. Turn off all the higher functions of your brain, reject humanity, and return to caveman with Primeval Onslaught.

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The Booze: Creative Creature’s The Cake Eater

When visiting Long Beach’s finest pizza + beer + metal + horror joint The 4th Horseman for my birthday a few weeks ago I was on a quest to find a beer that would suitably hit me in the same manner as Torture Rack, and thankfully their fridge of canned brews did not disappoint. The Cake Eater from Creative Creature in El Cajon, CA is a bourbon barrel-aged pastry stout, a beer style I’ve never had before — at 14.3% ABV it packs a punch in the alcohol department, and it fares similarly in terms of flavor. Bourbon is naturally what hits first, but there’s a very roasty aftertaste with hints of cocoa. But above all is the potent sweetness that seems to be the defining feature of pastry stouts, yet don’t let this trait fool you; this beer does not go down easy like some sweeter pale ales and IPAs. If you’ve ever needed to combine your dessert and booze into one, this is the beer to get.

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Cheers, and be good to each other

— Colin