Water of Life -  Morris Whisky Limited Edition Smoked Muscat

Given how immensely enjoyable I not only usually find the fortified wines, tawnies and matured muscats of Morris of Rutherglen, but specifically the first two releases of Morris Whisky’s core range, it goes without saying that I was coloured intrigued when word around the campfire had that Morris launched a new expression that was to rely heavily-charred oak.  

After all, how could contributing a smoky accent to further accentuate the complex intensity of Morris’ fantastic muscat cask-finished single malt whisky, which we covered as part of this series when it was first released, not result in a banger?

Clocking in at a solid ABV of 48.3%, upon approach Morris’ dark red hued Smoked Muscat expression tickles the nostrils with smoky aromas that give way to cherry, winey, blueberry and apple nuances, which blend in with a musky, molassic fruitiness dancing against the backdrop of the complex Muscat characteristics. 

What is promised on the nose is seamlessly transitioned to the palate where a malty, honey-like sweetness with subtle hints of berry, coca and vanilla is married with an incredibly seductive melange of smoky flavours, culminating in a cinnamon spicy crescendo that is counterpointed by dry notes reminiscent of crisp, tart apple skins and nashi pears. 

The aforementioned exercise in complexity is further enhanced by an elegant, velvety mouthfeel, which leaves me smacking my lips.

The finish is where the soft wood-aged characters and the intricacies of heavily charred oak flavours shine:  Polyphenolic cocoa gives way to a smooth mellow complex piquancy that slowly builds to an intense accumulation of heat at the back of the mouth.

Salivating yet? You bet.

Morris’ Smoked Muscat expression is an example par excellence for a masterful calibration of the best that fortified Muscat casks and heavily charred oak has to offer.

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image from company website

The Formative Years – Cathedral

When it comes to marrying the gloomy and sombre spirit of bands like Pentagram and with Black Sabbath worship and protracted, heavy doom metal, Cathedral’s debut album “Forest of Equilibrium” is a classic that raised the bar in 1991.

Starting with the fantastically twisted Hieronymus Bosch-esque cover artwork and a cheery intro, the sub-par production of the album only adds depth to the spacey, lost atmosphere, which is counterpointed by overpowering avalanches of crushing guitars, pierced by grandiosely plodding drums that are buried and obscured by reverb and Lee Dorian’s overdubbed bizarrely moaned, miserable vocal delivery.

While the Forest of Equilibrium’s depressive blur of comforting distortion is a tour de force in terms of heaviness, the melodic, grooving yet inherently darkly hypnotic, serpentine guitarwork along with the occasional odd instrumentation and all the imperfections of this album set it apart from the rest of the epigones by adding an eerily suffocating and magical touch.

The legacy of heaviness known as “Forest of Equilibrium” took what was known as doom metal, slowed it further down to a foreboding, sorrow conjuring, catatonic, tortured crawl resulting in a sonically compressed power akin to thick molten all-consuming hot lead threatening to immerse us all.

Forest of Equilibrium took doom to its extreme and has stood the test of time as a monolith of dread.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer

Six String Brewery Red IPA quartet + Wayward Brewing Everydays

Ever since the homage to slappin’ da six-string bass incarnated on Australian craft beer radar, Six String Brewery has been going from strength to strength, so after an initial coverage of their core range a couple of years ago as part of this series, it was high time to revisit to check on the state of affairs.

Based on how much I liked Six String’s initial tweaked riffing on the West Coast USA style red ale, with its characteristic toasty, medium-dark caramel, toffee, and dark fruit nuances dancing against a backdrop of deliciously balanced hoppiness, I was intrigued when I learned about them having pushed the envelope much further not once but three times.

Appropriately named “Double Trouble”, Six String’s red DIPA takes the characteristics of the aforementioned Dark Red IPA and amplified it by tripling down on the hops and doubling down on the malts. Clocking in at a respectable 10% ABV, this warming, velvety lil’ number boasts intense yet immensely satisfying bitter-sweet flavours, accentuated by  tropical fruits with a thick candied, borderline chewable maltiness and a bitterness reminiscent of oaky tannins.

The Triple Dark Red IPA was originally brewed for the 2019 incarnation of the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular and it makes the other two Red IPA expressions taste tame in comparison with its boozy, deep malty backbone, resinous hops and tropical flavours complementing the dominating honeyed caramel and toffee notes. 
The earthy result generates an almost syrup-like sweetness that is not only due to the heightened ABV of 12% reminiscent of barley wine, only to finish with a substantial mouthfeel on pronounced bitter and slightly spicy notes that reverberate for ages.

Needless to say, Six String’s Quadruple Dark Red IPA is one that you need to make time for. Essentially, it epitomizes everything Six String stands for in terms of bold flavours and proves to be an adequate brew to celebrate the brewery’s tenth anniversary next year.

Having teamed it up with a dram of Ardbeg Corrywreckan, this boilermaker became a lip-smacking evening filling exercise in rich, boozy (14% ABV) buttery toffee caramel deliciousness. Stating that this big bodied Quadruple Dark Red IPA has a massive flavour profile would be an understatement par excellence: Juicy and tangy raisins sit on a foundation of malt and blend in with resinous hops, lemony zestiness, sweet chocolatey overtones and nutty, cooked milk.

Given what Six String has accomplished in the realm of Dark Red IPAs by living up to their credo, i.e. the creating of amplified ales,, I can only hope that they will endeavour the same with their other hopped out variants.

Given the consistent high quality of the brews Wayward has been pumping up on a regular basis, it proves hard to contain excitement when new releases are being announced – especially when it comes to expressions that are meant to enter their core range of crowd pleasers.

Informed by the credo that the only constant thing is change, a willingness to evolve and an acknowledgement of the importance of connecting with different demographics with their releases, Wayward’s Everyday Lager replaces their delicately bitter Pilsner in their core range in a bid to offer something more approachable and a little less challenging on the palate.

For hop aficionados looking for a daily sipper and crafted with the traditional beer drinker in mind, Wayward’s light-bodied Everyday Pale Ale Easy Drinking Australian Pale Ale offers a straightforward taste profile with bright notes of honeyed tropical fruits and a subtle floral aroma with a crisp clean finish, courtesy of Australian Galaxy and American Cascade hops.

Two solid expressions that are sure to resonate with Pilsner and Pale Ale aficionados and since those bases are covered, I can only hope that Wayward focuses on what I love the brewery most for, i.e. the creation of quality IPAs and wonderfully delicious experiments not unlike their Sourade Blue Blast Berry Gose.

KISS
Qudos Bank Arena
Sydney, Australia
27 August 2022

Having been indoctrinated as a prepubescent into the KISS Army by a card-carrying and pinball machine owning elder family member who was there to witness the band's ascent to superstardom before the dawn of punk rock, the seemingly evil cohesive image, distinctive uniform and cartoon-esque idea of danger that Kiss conveyed proved to be revelatory during my formative years. The way Kiss married irresistible hard rock elements with the flamboyant aspects of glam resulted in one of the gateways that introduced me to darker shades of rock and sparked a lifelong love affair.

In-fighting leading to the current incarnation of Kiss with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer in the make-up and characters of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss and divisive antics of the individual constituents of the band aside, Kiss as a phenomenon remains undeniable.

On their current “End of the Road” valedictory lap, which has been meandering around the globe since 2019, Kiss washes over the audience with a good time. Their meticulously planned ground-breaking concert production comprised of theatrics, gimmicks, pomp, a best of setlist, fire, pageantry and explosions galore is both literally and figuratively a blast.

An added bonus that accentuates this masterclass in entertainment and life-affirming celebration is that compared to other times I have seen Kiss incarnate with the original line-up, the band is in top form and it felt like the current version is genuinely having a lot of fun, which seamlessly translates, resonates with the audience and adds an important additional dimension to their impressive stagecraft.

Tonight’s carefully choreographed bombastic, sonically lean two-hour tour de force did neither lack grit nor swagger and culminating in a confetti spurting fulminant finale that saw them leave the stage of a borderline sentimental high, swept up the audience and cemented Kiss’ monumental legacy.

A majestic show you do want to catch before the mammoth End of the Road tour grinds to a halt sometime in 2023 and the brand continues in another shape or form in a live environment. 

Phantom of the Opera 
Opera House
26 August 2022
Sydney, Australia

Fourteen years after the last production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera incarnated in Sydney, audiences on terra australis got lucky like twice this year: 

In April Opera on the Harbour staged an outsized open air alfresco extravaganza set against the dramatic backdrop of Sydney’s skyline, while anticipation was high for Cameron Mackintosh’s  refreshed version of Webber’s bombastic musical of all musicals to haunt the Joan Sutherland Theatre to prove that the rejuvenated tour de force of winning pop sensibilities has stood the test of time.

The bohemian crystal chandelier that hovers over the audience not unlike the Sword of Damocles forbodes what proves to be a reinvigorated legacy production with Scott Ambler’s visceral choreography adding new dimensions to the emotional resonance in shapes, space, movement and rhythm.

Backed by an opulent twenty-seven piece orchestra, the nuances of the instrumentation are well variegated and become an active ingredient in the storytelling, thereby accentuating the motifs and reprises with fine control and escalating power, strongly supporting the vocal performances without ever running danger of being reduced to mere accompaniment even during quiet moments.

As a result, the stage story is never not vibrant despite the Olympian vocal challenges the lead performers Josh Piterman, Amy Manford and Blake Bowden are negotiating, as they skilfully meander through sinister, vulnerable and romantic territory.

Visually, labelling the melange comprised of Paul Brown’s scenic design, the magic Mick Potter channelled with the lighting along with Maria Björnson’s sumptuous costumes as stunning would be an understatement par excellence, especially since it masterfully augments the personalities of the characters.

Without ever attempting to forcefully reinvent the wheel and remaining true to the script, the enlivened version of Phantom of the Opera blows the cobwebs away from the tried and tested with the metaphorical ball remaining in the air at all times. 

The panoply of character, emotion and action on display results is a complex and immensely enjoyable whole that is significantly greater than the sum of its considerable parts.

Delightful entertainment at its best.

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photo courtesy of Daniel Boud / Opera Australia