Hot food, cold beer and blistering metal
Possessor - Gravelands (2019) 4/5 stars Gravelands is the fourth LP from London's Possessor: six tracks of ace stoner/sludge bookended by an intro and an atmospheric reprise whose common aural element— crackling flames— is a great metaphor for the overall driven feel of this album. From the opening Motörhead bass chug, there is no letup... Continue Reading →
Maat - As We Create the Hope From Above (2014) 4/5 stars Maat play excellent Egyptian-themed death metal, largely in the vein of Nile: multi-tempo, very demanding technical death metal riffing combined with Eastern-flavored thematic rhythm guitar work and leads, both of which are often played over drumming that is running at a very different... Continue Reading →
In 2003, Pop The Cap began lobbying efforts to raise the ABV limit on beer in North Carolina from a stodgy 6%, promising the state legislature that if the ABV limit was raised to a reasonable level, North Carolina would become a craft beer mecca. The state legislature passed a bill raising the ABV cap... Continue Reading →
Old Man Metal focuses on folding blades with a knife review of the Benchmade Nakamura 484S and the Böhler M390 stainless steel used for the blade on the third episode of his solo podcast, taking a deep dive into stainless steels, particularly modern powder metallugy "super steels", including an in-depth look at heat treatment, tempering, and the elemental composition of stainless steels and the effect those elements have on hardness, strength, toughness and corrosion resistance... all while drinking an Old Tuffy lager show beer from New Belgium.
Lowest Creature - Sacrilegious Pain (2019) 4/5 stars. Lowest Creature play a straightforward style of metal that sees compelling mid-tempo thrash and crossover riffs bolted together into uncomplicated verse/chorus structures, driven in alternating fits by D-beats and thrash-style drumming, with well-placed uptempo sections, hangs and sick mosh parts to build and release tension. Well-done thrash... Continue Reading →
Legion of the Damned - Slaves of the Shadow Realm (2019) Four out of five stars. Primarily mid- and up-tempo thrash riffing, with the neck-snapping riff and tempo changes you expect from good thrash, played against the occasional tremolo-picked death metal passage. The drumming follows suit, again being primarily drawn from thrash, with double-bass runs... Continue Reading →
It's a bit over halfway through the year, so I thought I'd take a quick look at the frontrunners in the perennial race for Album of the Year. So far, the Top 5 is a battle between death metal (2 albums) and black/thrash (2 albums), with death/thrash staking out a piece of territory as well.... Continue Reading →
Old Man Metal combines beer and metal on the second episode of his solo podcast, with an ASTMO beer review of 2016 Founders KBS barrel aged imperial stout and a quick look at barrel aging and cellaring big stouts, followed by a survey of the top 5 new metal albums in the running for Metal Album of the Year 2019: Ravenous Death (black/death), Warfist (black/thrash), Okkultist (death metal), Legion of the Damned (death/thrash) and Usurper (black/thrash). Includes an update on new podcast gear and the upcoming Benchmade Nakamura episode.
Volcano Dust Spicy Chili Powder is a four-chile chili powder blend, and is one of many chile-based powders manufactured by Volcanic Peppers LLC. The chiles comprise the largest portion of the blend (as is typical for chili powders); the label does not say what varietals are used, but the Volcanic Peppers website identifies them as Ancho, Jalapeno, Cayenne and Smoked Habanero. Garlic and onion are next in terms of weight in the recipe, followed by paprika, then the ubiquitous catch-all "spices."
Boomslang is a three-pepper, extract-enhanced sauce from Ashley Food Company, of Mad Dog fame. Looking at the ingredient list, ghost peppers are used in the highest proportion, with bird's eye peppers and jalapeno peppers falling between garlic and onion, showing that there is more garlic in the recipe than either of these ancillary peppers, but less onion.
Old Man Metal's Musings 