There are IPAs and then there are Imperial IPAs and then there are the super ridiculous pine tree and booze IPAs. Stratford CTs (that's right I said Stratford CT) Two Roads Brewing "Road 2 Ruin" is the one in the middle. This is usually where I like my IPAs, a little more hops and a little more alcohol than the standard but not to the point where I won't be able to taste anything else correctly for the rest of the night. At 7.6% ABV it's no slouch but 2 of them won't put you out for the count either. You get a nice piney nose and a plenty of bitter hop bite but nothing that lingers forever. Not an overly heavy or syrupy body either. Some companies that make Imperial anything do not know how to properly ferment their beers and you are left with something that is overly sweet and syrupy. This is a light body which allows for an easier to enjoy, any time of the year type beer. The above average alcohol content allows it to be something to keep you warm in the winter but the fresh taste of the hops and the sheer drinkability make it a worth while summer beer as well. "Road 2 Ruin" is an easy drinking beer for all you hop heads out there.
Having really just dove head first back into comics I have had to reacquaint myself with some old friends. Spidey is one of my oldest. Being in my 30s now I'm never sure how I'm going to react to the "super hero" genre anymore. Some of it is done really well and others is done for kids with no real staying power once you get past a certain age. This is fine, you gotta staret somewhere and kids that shouldn't be delving into things like Preacher at a tender age. But for me I'm in need of something that has more substance than the X-Force book of my youth. This was my fear with a story arc like Spider Island. Everyone in Manhattan getsinfected with spider powers? Give me a break, right? Well after reading the first trade of Superior Spider-Man and seeing how writer Dan Slott was mixing things up I figured even this story line deserved a shot. Plus, with Humberto Ramos doing a lot of the art, at least it would look cool. I must say that it certainly did look cool. For those of you not familiar with Ramos and his style, it's very cartoony but angular. It's got some anime influence but he doesn' trealy wear it on his sleeve. It's also very bright and deliberate,not a heck of a lot of things are going unnoticed in a panel he draws. I, personally, like these things in a super hero comic, leave the dark brooding lines for Hellblazer and Sin City. There is a time and place for everything and this comic demands action and Ramos gives it to you in spades. Now on to the story. Slott is doing some interesting twists and turns with Spider-Man but he's still keyed in to what has always made him great. These things are mostly his smart mouth and his self doubt and internal struggle with being a super hero. When spidey findshimself sidelined because he can't be told apart from the other spider powered imposters the character comes across briliantly. There are also a wide array of other secondary and tertiary characters in Spider-Island that Slott pens extremely well. The mayor of Spider Island J. Jonah Jameson is going full tilt from beggining to end of the arc and it's great to watch. You really want his assistant to be there for him, ready to give him heart medication at all times. Also the, villian turned biblical savior Anti-Venom is an interesting twist and carefuly cloaked Deus Ex Machina for the whole story arc. This is a super hero comic that can be enjoyed by readers of any age as far as I'm concerned and everyone will take a little something different away from it.
Worcester Mass. melodic metal masters, (say that a couple times fast), Second Grave's new 10" Antithesis is the perfect album to go along with this comic and beverage combo. While is is easy, the most "complex" thing on the dockett today is it's no where near the self indulgent and oft overused "progressive" genre. This music that is easy to listen to if you are a fan of metal but if you're into doing some analysis while you're listening to it, as I usually am, then you'll never run out of little things to peak your interest with these 2 well crafted songs. The first side is "Mourning Light", It's fast and it's heavy in a very guitar centric way. The guitars gallop along with the ferocity of barbarian horde but also with the precision of a roman phalanx. The quiet section in the middle displays a very classic, Iommi during his quiiet moments, guitar solo that soon catapults forward into a loud, blistering solo as the song presses on. The transitions from piece to piece are flawless and instead of being confused at the number changes you feel like you've actually gone somewhere, like you went along on a journey from the start to finish. The kicker of the song is really the vocals. Instead of screaming her face off, as is far too often the case in modern metal, vocalist Krista Van Guilder showcases her power by hitting all the notes spot on and with immense conviction. There is depth to her voice, it all comes from the gut and she is never reaching for a note she can't hit or throwing notes in where they don't belong. Side 2, "Drink the Water" is a doomier and more bass driven. There is hard hitting and very dynamic groove to this central riff of this song - it fluctuates in volume and the way it's played as it builds up and breaks down each time it comes in. This kind of songwriting is to me is why doom has become one of the most popular metal subgenres. It's the dynamics and the thematic approach to songwriting and even just riff writing that makes it so interesting, and Second Grave are putting on a clinic during "Drink the Water. As the band quiets down from the initial bombast, Krista's vocals come in and are accompanied by a fuzz bass sound that is somewhere between velcro coming apart and sparking electrical wires. It keeps the feeling of mennace going throughout the song without having to sacrifice the dynamics. While most of this song is set at a relatively slow pace, the solo section is sped up and rips bringing you back to the very metal roots of the record. The outro of the this song kicks in with that fuzz bass and an air raid siren. Joined quickly by the rest of the band for a thorough bashing, which includes the tolling of bells and Krista changing her vocal style to a truly terrifying blackened howl. You cannot take anything on this record for granted because Second Grave will proove to you that what you think is coming next is not.
