Desolation, the third full-length from rising doom superstars Khemmis, is officially released today. There’s no question that it’s an excellent album, expanding upon every element of 2016’s Hunted, placing it among the best records to be released this year. Of course, Decibel readers are already very familiar with Khemmis, who nabbed our Album of the Year honor in 2016, performed at our inaugural Metal & Beer Fest in 2017 and on the Decibel Tour with Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room and Myrkur earlier this year.
To celebrate the release of Desolation, we asked Khemmis skinsman/TRVE Head Brewer Zach Coleman to write about the five best beers he tried while on the Decibel Tour 2018. What follows are his picks and words. Desolation is out today on 20 Buck Spin in North America and Nuclear Blast everywhere else.
“This is difficult because I can’t include everyone that gave beer (e.g. Two Brothers or Cosmic Eye) or hung out and drank beer (e.g., crushing ales with Jon Rice after our show in Ohio or crushing ales with Alex Yarde and Yards), but here are my top 5 beers from the Decibel Tour.”
Conshohocken Brewing – MC5
Andrew (mutual friend of my good buddy and beer man, Jesse Brookstein) dropped off a case of beer before our Philly show. This beer is part of their experimental hop-forward series and is a great example of the now-ubiquitous hazy IPA. Double dry hopped for maximum terpene, it wins the day by not being too sweet or malty. I was glad to have this and several other Conshohocken beers to crush along side Ivar (Enslaved) as we began the tour.
Kings County Brewers Collective – Morbid Hour
As we were filming an episode of The Six Most Metal Breweries (featuring Decibel’s very own head honcho, Editor-in-Chief Albert Mudrian), Adam Z. brought us some cans of Morbid Hour and I’m glad he did! Great dark lager with balance, making it incredibly drinkable. Good shit from my buds and KCBC.
Half Acre – Tuna
I love just about everything Half Acre does, but this beer has a near perfect balance, leaning in the hop-forward direction but still incredibly crushable. Ivar (Enslaved) and I were able to sneak into the brewery for about 20 minutes, where Lee (Head Wyld Cove Yeast Wrangler… pretty sure that’s his official job title) pulled some nails on a TRVE/Half Acre (barrel-aged sour) collaboration that will be coming out soon.
Cantillon – Fou Foune
Todd from Hop Gardens in Sacramento and his maniacal buddies (I mean that in a loving way) have been bringing Cantillon and other amazing beers to our shows for a few years running now. Not wanting to break tradition, we (Khemmis) were lucky enough to unceremoniously chug this amazing fruited (apricot) lambic out of styrofoam cups (can’t be choosey about glassware on the road) before our show in Nevada City.
Surly – Todd the Axe Man
Josh and the whole crew take such good care of us when we’re in town that we (Khemmis) now has a pavlovian craving when crossing the Minnesota border. But really, it’s the strength of the core lineup that gets us pumped (Bender, Xtra Citra, Hell, etc…), and Todd the Axe Man was hitting me just right on the road (plus it’s a nod to legendary brewer, shredder and my bud, Todd Haug).
Learn more about TRVE on their website.
