Well, things have gotten decidedly more metal in my world lately. I tried the Red Fang burger, which was delicious. Kumas was packed as usual, but I still tried yet another burger from their menu, and drank Woodford Reserve and Lagunitas Censored. I think I have tried most of the burgers there now... maybe sometime I'll move on to the choose your own ingredients mac and cheese dinner. After eating there with some friends, I made my way to the Double Door to see one of my favorite bands, Brutal Truth.
After drinking a few beers and some bourbon at Kuma's, I was already feeling pretty buzzed.... at the show I slowed it down a bit and drank some Busch tallboys, after buying a t-shirt. Gotta support the legends! After Chicago metal mainstay Yakuza opened, saxophonist and singer of the band Bruce Lamont did a sound/noise experiment that utilized his saxophone and vocals as well as a delay pedal... a bald guy in a suit with some sort of device that looked like a giant calculator or some sort of sci-fi/futuristic device also contributed to the sounds, or at least, appeared to... and Brutal Truth singer Kevin Sharp joined in for the last half of the noisy-but-really-cool-sounding soundscape.
I must say, I was a little surprised that there were some really cute girls at a grindcore show, which I found to be very cool. But I think that heavy metal is officially getting big in Chicago again, and I am excited to live here.... I was kind of getting sick of all the indie hipsters pretend-to-know-it-all types, and boring post-rock wannabes. Chicago has room for all types of music. It is good to see metal regaining a name for itself and not getting poo-poo'ed by pitiful lames.
So anyway, Brutal Truth pretty much destroyed... first off, they played their upcoming new album, 'Evolution Through Revolution', in its entirety. It does not disappoint! It sounds like an amalgam of their early stuff and 'Sounds of the Animal Kingdom', which is a very cool combination. I can't wait to hear the cd... it wasn't for sale yet at the show though. The second set consisted of picks from their 90s grind-defining works, which inspired me to crush my last beer can onto my head while rocking out in the small and spirited pit, which was much more laidback then it would have been in the heyday of mosh pits. But this was one of the most fun shows I've been at in a while. Brutal Truth is back. The new guitarist is really good too, although on one song from 'Need To Control' he didn't quite get the rhythm down... it's hard to replace a grinding bastard.
Finally, check this band out if you like metal: Vira. One of the best "new" metal bands I've heard lately, there's a lot going on with their music. And it's catchy as hell. Metal.
This is another of the Alive beers from Shmaltz Brewing Co., for lager freaks and beer geeks everywhere. This was just a solid brew. One of my favorite things in life, malt, is in abundance in this malty masterpiece. This is a well-liked lager, and I suspect that it is Shmaltz's best seller. This beer has little to no aftertaste, and every drop pleases the taste buds. Perhaps this is due to my love of the 8 different malts, the slightly underlying 6 types of hops, and Czech Pilsner yeast. On the label it says "conjoined with beguiling new world flavor".
This is a very full lager, so if you like your lagers very lager-y, then this might be a little bit misleading. This stuff tastes very robust for a lager, as you might guess.
Beer Advocate has this listed as 5.5% ABV, but I didn't notice this listed on the label.
The label is actually quite terrifying, everyone that sees the face on the label is at least a little disturbed I think. A totally freaky carnie type of character stares out at the unknowing world with some sort of possessed grin. I think this put me off on trying this stuff for a while, but I think it's well worth your time, as it is a very tasty, yet smooth and mellow brew with no aftertaste (other than goodness). This is nearly as good as Albino Python, but not quite as unique. It's more of a any day of the week pour, perhaps to take the edge off a busy Monday. I know I will be drinking this more in the future, although it's been only a few times I've tried this over the last few months, there's just so many different good craft beers. Right now, I'd have to say that Shmaltz Coney Island beers and of course, Lagunitas, are my two favorite breweries.
