2023 was pretty massive and the end of the year season got me a little burned out (can anyone else relate?), so I’ve decided to slowly ease myself back into digesting new music for 2024. I’m starting my contributions for this year’s Evcharist in just the right way with two very solid offerings: Obsidian Tongue’s The Stone Heart and Smog City Brewing’s Amarilla Gorilla.

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The Tunes: Obsidian Tongue — The Stone Heart

I try to keep on top of Bindrune releases, but regrettably this is my first exposure to Obsidian Tongue. Once I discovered that one half of the band is none other than Brendan Hayter — responsible for fronting one of the best sets of live music I have ever seen, and probably will ever see — and the other is Raymond Capizzo (Falls of Rauros, live Panopticon), you know I absolutely had to check this new EP out. The Stone Heart is 18 minutes of great atmospheric black metal; the title track opens with a brooding intro replete with psychedelic clean vocals before swiftly descending into blackened blast beat sweetness, bouncing between sharp riffage and more ethereal leads with ease. Atmoblack guitars can sometimes be thin and trebly but that’s absolutely not the case here; Hayter’s tone is BEEFY. The riffs are expertly guided by a propulsive drum performance from Capizzo, constantly looking ahead to what’s to come with fills and beat changes. “Winter Child” begins in melodic doom territory before an even better (and more abrupt) switch into blasts, followed by some Bathory-esque folk stomps in the final minutes. “Bear at the Tree of Light” isn’t just an awesome song title (try to guess where that came from), but continues the great sense of forward momentum with its tribalistic drumming. The opening and closing tracks end a little bit sooner than I would’ve hoped, but I guess being left wanting more is a much better option than feeling like the music has overstayed its welcome — fret not though, as The Stone Heart is but the first in a trio of releases expected from Obsidian Tongue within the next year or two. After this first little taste of what the duo has to offer, I’m really excited for the music to come.

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The Booze: Smog City Brewing — Amarilla Gorilla

When it comes to beer I almost always go for IPAs, and when it comes to IPAs I often go for the tropical/citrusy ones. However, I’ve been pining for pinier beer recently and when perusing the local BevMo I came across Amarilla Gorilla — beer labels are sometimes like albums, and you have to give them a taste just based on artwork and name alone. As advertised this is a tropical IPA with a juicy citrus flavor present throughout, but there’s just enough pine notes within to satisfy my current cravings. It’s got a malty aftertaste that can be a be a little bit much at first, but settles nicely into bready territory. It pours fairly clear, it’s packed with flavor without being the greatest beer I’ve ever tasted — like how The Stone Heart is a solid EP, this is just simply an all-around solid beer.

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Cheers, and be good to each other

— Colin