We’ve lapsed juuuuust a bit on this series, but… the people require more alcohol-based journalismism, and dammit, I guess I’ve gotta give it to ‘em. So with that out of the way, welcome back to Receiving the Evcharist! In this week’s edition, we’re checking out Black Majesty’s new album, Oceans of Black, alongside Area Two Experimental Brewing’s Gueuze.

Shall we dabble? Let’s dabble.

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The Tunes

There’s an old episode of Parks and Recreation where Chris Traeger and Ron Swanson stage a hamburger cook-off for their coworkers. Chris — played by Rob Lowe — stays true to his health-conscious-but-also-kinda-neurotic character, and prepares an Asian fusion burger, made with organic turkey, papaya chutney and black truffle aioli, and served on a gluten-free brioche bun. Ron (Nick Offerman) keeps his offering simpler: “it’s a hamburger, made out of meat, on a bun, with nothing. Add ketchup if you want; I couldn’t care less.” While Chris’s elaborate concoction initially wows the office, it’s ultimately Ron’s simpler, more straightforward burger that wins the day.

I realize this is a bit of a weird way to start an album write-up, but I’ve been thinking about that episode a lot while listening to this new Black Majesty album, Oceans of Black. Throughout the metal world, there’s a great deal of attention paid to forward-thinking, boundary-pushing new releases — and rightly so! It’s good to have your existing norms challenged. It helps us evolve as a species, rather than… [gestures broadly at everything] But sometimes, it’s also good to indulge in the familiar — and that’s where Black Majesty comes in. The band doesn’t shatter any boundaries, but they do serve up a decent slab of power metal comfort food.

Oceans of Black is album number eight for the Melbourne quintet, and the first in some seven years. It kicks off at what feels like 150 mph, and you’d better buckle up, because but for a handful of song parts here and there — the intros of “Hold On” or “Only the Devil”, the vaguely-swinging title track, etc. — the pacing rarely drops too far below that mark. (And frankly, with titles like “Set Stone on Fire” or “Hell Racer” in the mix, nor should it.) Regardless, do we know if new drummer Zain Kimmie is part machine? With the amount of, just… absolute tornados he whips up throughout this thing, it sure feels like it.

But there’s more than just pure speed to Oceans of Black. Guitarists Hanny Mohamed and Clinton James Bidie play well off one another, tremolo-picking and harmonizing each other like two dueling dragons. (Dragon Lords?) Meanwhile, vocalist John Cavaliere had me absolutely fixated on his performance. There’s a familiar quality to his voice that I can’t quite place — a higher-pitched Tobias Sammet? Michael Kiske with the mid-EQs maxed out? But regardless, Cavaliere soars above the fray as if looking for new clouds to burst through. He’s great. And the total package sounds like… well, the total package, thanks to terrific mixing / mastering jobs from Ricardo Borges and Jens Bogren.

In the end, the cadence is sort of what you’d expect from good, old-fashioned, melodic power metal, and that’s not a bad thing. At the end of the day, Black Majesty proves to be a fun excursion.

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Oceans of Black is available now via Scarlet Records. For more information on Black Majesty, visit the band’s official website.

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The Booze

I reached deep into the Communal Beer Fridge of Doom™ (pictured at right above) in our basement and came across this lovely offering from Area Two Experimental Brewing. Area Two is an offshoot of the popular Two Roads Brewing Company — the two share a campus in Stratford, CT — and focuses more acutely on the brewers’ desire to “innovate, redefine, and stretch the definition of beer.”

I’d describe this as the “Chris Traeger approach,” except that… Two Roads itself is already pretty forward-thinking with its brews. Maybe we can call this the “Chris Traeger had a baby, whose name was also Chris Traeger, and they brewed together” approach? (May need to wordsmith that one a bit.)

In any case, visit Area Two and you’ll come across a wide range of lambic-style sours, barrel-aged concoctions, collaborations with other breweries and more. It’s there that, a while back, we had the fortune to come across their Gueuze, a tart, funky and acidic brew that fits nicely with patio blogging sessions at dusk, without overpowering your tastebuds just because — an unfortunate trend that feels all too common as sours in general continue their slow-motion shark-jump.

The Gueuze takes me back to when the Literati Overlord first introduced me to sour beers back in our wee 20s. (That’s a compliment of the highest order, in my book.) A limited-edition brew that retired in 2020 — oof, I really should do more frequent deep-dives into the Communal Beer Fridge of Doom™ — combines a blend of one- two- and three-year-old (at the time) lambic ales, and packs a complex flavor profile. Peach is the most noticeable component, but also you’ll also get hints of orange and even celery.

I need to stress just how pleasant this thing was to drink. As is the case with, uh… basically anything that becomes super popular… sours are getting to be a bit much now. Remember when hoppy IPAs were having their moment, and people started making them as hoppy as they possibly could, for the fuck of it? Well, if we’re not at that point with sours right now, we’re pretty close. Quite frankly, I don’t really love trying ‘em anymore! There’re too many, and in particular, too many that suck.

But this Gueuze didn’t suck. It was fantastic, and it felt like a relic of a bygone time when sours were still novel. It’s a shame it’s not in production anymore, but I’m sure the folks at Area Two have something (or multiple something’s) every bit as compelling on the horizon.

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Anyway, a thousand words later, I think that’s about enough for this post. Enjoy your weekend libations, friends!

Keep it heavy,
—Dan