It already feels like spring has come and gone in my part of the US, with the sweltering dry heat of summer already rearing its horrible head. Today we drink from the cup of heresy with a pairing that serves as an epitaph for spring and a toast to the memory of summers past (more on that later) with Boleskine House‘s Miserabilist Blues and Knee Deep Brewing Co.‘s Tahoe Deep.

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The Tunes: Boleskine House — Miserabilist Blues

Black and doom metal are two genres that I always thought would go great together in theory, but never really found anything that particularly suited my tastes; notable exceptions would be when some of my black metal heroes craft tremendous doom riffs, with Enslaved’s “Giants,” Panopticon’s “Winter’s Ghost,” and Nechochwen’s “A Cure for Winter Plagues” coming to mind. Miserabilist Blues, the debut album from Italian duo Boleskine House (named after the Scottish manor formerly owned by both Aleister Crowley and Jimmy Page), is advertised as atmospheric black/doom metal, yet lo and behold I found not black metal but a very Opeth-inspired take on gothic doom! Right from the multilayered chords and deep growls of opener “Black House Painters” I was transported back to high school days in which the music of Mikael Åkerfeldt reigned supreme, albeit with an even more dreary atmosphere that would likely appeal to Agalloch and Katatonia fans. Twin guitar-led doom sections, a healthy dose of clean and acoustic guitar interludes, and a rousing cover of My Bloody Valentine’s “When You Sleep” to close out the album, this is quite the solid debut (even if I don’t agree with the genre descriptions — music is all subjective, right?). If any of the influences I’ve mentioned are among your favorites, I don’t think you’ll find yourself disappointed by Miserabilist Blues.

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The Booze: Knee Deep Brewing Co. — Tahoe Deep

Some of my favorite childhood-through-young adulthood memories stem from biennial summer vacations to Lake Tahoe with some of my most cherished extended family — sadly the last one of these was in 2018, with COVID, kids, jobs, and some light “not talking to family members anymore for political reasons” (thanks 2020… try to guess the views of the estranged member!) all factoring in to the hiatus of these trips. Even so, I’ll always hold dear the memories of hikes up to small remote lakes, beach picnics, mini golf in Tahoe’s downtown, family movie watches (Lebowski and The Hangover being two of the greats), extended board game sessions, and much much more. Seeing a beer named after that majestic body of water I just had to try out Tahoe Deep, and thankfully it doesn’t disappoint! Pouring as clear as the titular lake, this is a pretty bog-standard West Coast-style Imperial IPA; strong yet sweet and easy drinking, with your expected notes of citrus, pine, and malt coming together to create an all-around solid beer. Hopefully one day I can sip this on a Tahoe beach in the company of my extended family again.

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Cheers, and be good to each other

— Colin