I feel like every instance of me writing this feature opens with an apology.  But hey…it’s been three months since I’ve done one of these, and it’s about damn time to drink from the cup of heresy once more.  This week’s offerings: Your Spirit Dies’ It Is Well… and Illuminated Brew Works’ Black Poppy Lady.

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The Tunes: Your Spirit Dies’ It Is Well…

There was a time when metalcore ruled the airwaves, and by “airwaves” I kinda mean MySpace.  Sure, that makes me feel very dated and, quite honestly, ancient, but I think back on the days of Top 8’s and embedding new songs by The Devil Wears Prada, Unearth and the like to your profile page to show off your allegiances.  Metalcore is, of course, still alive and very much well, but there is a certain je ne sais quoi to that mid-to-late aughts metalcore that will always resonate with me, and Your Spirit Dies damn near perfectly brings that melodeath-tinged brand of metalcore into the 2020’s.  Last year’s My Gnawing Pains Will Never Rest was the culmination of a lot of the hard work and sweat that the Greenville quintet puts into everything they do, and it shows in the amount of love and attention that record got.  It Is Well… serves as a post script to that release, with two proper bonus cuts bookending an interlude following up on the momentum generated by that mammoth release.  It Is Well…, like its sister piece, is heavily influenced by the likes of Killswitch Engage, At the Gates, Napalm Death and Godflesh, as well as giallo horror and religious iconography.

Lead single “Starless” opens the short-but-sweet EP the exact way I was hoping it would: lurching, lumbering chugs on the low strings of a drop-C (if I’m not mistaken) tuned guitar over frantic blast beats.  It’s a hell of an opening salvo, and the combination of off-kilter rhythms under vocalist Brandon Byars’ ferocious roar is an effective reminder of just how intense metalcore can get when done at this high of a level.  The track really blossoms, though, when the band moves into the melodic and atmospheric middle section, where they lock into a vibe that sounds like a less progressive but just as melodic Misery Signals.  It’s here that I think Your Spirit Dies shows the full strength of what they can achieve: this sounds at once both comfortingly nostalgic but also modern and innovative.  And, of course, the song closes with the requisite narsty, syncopated breakdown that my body cannot help but respond to in a very real and visceral way.  Ambient interlude “When Peace, Like a River” bleeds over into the much more harcore-coded “Whispers in Omen” that offers a punky take on the formula that doesn’t slack on the heaviness in any respect.  If anything, it doubles down on the atmosphere and cinematic nature of these two pieces.  The worst thing I can say about It Is Well… is that I find myself wanting at least 2 more tracks of this piping hot goodness.  At least this seems to be the direction that Your Spirit Dies is going with their future releases, and I for one can’t wait for more.

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It Is Well… is available now on MNRK Heavy.  For more information on Your Spirit Dies, visit their Facebook page.

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The Booze: Illuminated Brew Works’ Black Poppy Lady

The world is a cruel and unfair place.  In just about a month, we have to say goodbye to Illuminated, our favorite local haunt with the best beer and best vibes we’ve found in a brewery ever.  I don’t blame Gen Z for drinking less, because I certainly am not; rather, I blame the rent system and the lack of support for places like this in the community.  Regardless of where the fault lies, Black Poppy Lady begins the slow viking funeral for a cherished institution.  At least with this brew, Illuminated is going out with a bang.  Black Poppy Lady is a Belgian Quad brewed in celebration of the 91st birthday of Chicago mainstay and occult author Michael Bertiaux, who also happens to be a fellow frequenter of this brewery.  This is everything you’d want in the quintessential quad: high ABV, yeasty and bready top notes, a hefty body and some nice stone fruit and floral flavors lingering on the tongue afterwards.  It’s not super potent and soapy like some quads can be, and while 10% ABV isn’t exactly conducive to crushing sessions, this is the perfect beer for sipping contemplatively while pondering the mysteries of life, the universe and beyond.  I still have never found a beer from Illuminated I’ve been less than thrilled with, and the fact that their time in our lives is coming to an end leaves me with a sadness that, well, makes me want to drink a ton more of their beer.

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I suppose I’ll have to do one more of these as a proper farewell to Illuminated Brew Works when the unfortunate time comes.  In that case and until then, stay well and be good to each other.

— Ian