I thought this was going to be my last post before vacation. Yet it turns out, since I’ve been a degenerate each night this week and have been dropping the ball on my Canto duties, you’ll hear from me at least one more time tomorrow. Yes, I shut myself off and leave for California on Monday morning for some wilderness adventure. If anyone hears from me directly (I may still try to satisfy the algorithm overlords… TBD there), it’s probably because something went horribly wrong. So yeah! Epic hiking and camera things are around the corner. The first portion of that trip will be in Yosemite, so why not pick something to listen to tonight based entirely on name alone? When has that ever gone wrong?!? The tunes for this latest Evchy installment feature hardcore beast Yosemite In Black and their new album The Pursuit Of, and I’ve opted to pair it with Notch Brewing’s Garageland, a Kuhl IPA. What’s a Kuhl IPA? I guess you’ll have to find out! Off we go…

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The Tunes: Yosemite In Black – The Pursuit Of

So this is funny. As I’ve been working through The Pursuit Of (out today through Terminus Hate City) I realized some significant time had gone by, so I was thinking “wow, this is a really long album for something this intense”. Turns out I’ve had it on repeat for like two hours. It’s 22 minutes long. Do the math. Apparently I’m becoming quite familiar! But seriously though, this is some in-your-face hardcore and I’m so into it. There is so much venom in these riffs and vocals, the latter of which I would love to hear isolated because they are just that unrelentingly harsh. But what really ties it all together for me is how pronounced the low ends and rhythms are. Specifically the bass, which steers things along so well. Together it creates more depth and power than much of the recent hardcore I’ve listened to (which, in all fairness, is not a ton). The result is pretty damn gnarly. Each of these eight tracks offer just a slight variation of what came before it, making these minutes fly by, and it isn’t until the closing “Fade Out” (appropriately) that the cadence is thrown off a bit. But that makes sense. Because… duh. In summary! If you want a quick dose of brutal hardcore that is going to knock you the fuck over, you’ve come to the right place. Yosemite In Black is the fix. This is dope. But that said, I think after what has now been, uh, six times around, I’ll move on with my evening…

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The Booze: Notch Brewing’s Garageland

But not before talking about the beer I’m drinking along with it, because that’s the entire point of this series! We’ll start by doubling back on the question at the beginning. What, exactly, is a Kuhl IPA? Well, kühl is German for “cool” or “chill”, so we’ll go with cold IPA featuring… Kölsch yeast? German malt? Both? I am doing zero research here. But it tastes like the love child of a Kölsch and New England IPA. And that, my friends, freaking rules. The smell is equally curious — the hops don’t take a back seat necessarily, but they do leave plenty of room for the malt and yeast to come through. It’s interesting. Good interesting. It’s equal parts bready, citrusy, and piney, which is quite the ride to be honest. I know Notch has been crushing it with their lagers, but I’m not the most familiar with what they’ve been up to otherwise. That said, I now see an opportunity to expand on that research a little more, and perhaps move it on-site… pretty much any reason to visit Salem, MA is a good one (as long as it isn’t October). But I digress! Garageland — the wonderful NEIPA and Kölsch (I think) hybrid. Complex, but still refreshing, offering the best of both worlds.

Now, does it align with the random music choice for the evening? Dear Satan, no. Not even a little bit. But that’s ok, because this has been fun! Well, at least for me. But has it been fun for you? Actually, scratch that. I don’t care. Hardcore and beer. Solid Friday (technically a Wednesday but shhhhh).

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Alright, I’ll catch you all tomorrow (Saturday) (probably).

“Ein Bier… bitte.
– cmb