Stockade 8 Bit IPA...Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance
What can I say? When I’m on a roll, I’m on a roll.
This was another random pickup. I’m not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but I used to have an 8 bit console as a kid, and I played my share of old arcade games back then. So I’m a bit of a sucker for this retro gaming imagery, and I wonder if these guys have had anything to do with the locally famous 8Bit burger joints in Melbourne. If not, they should definitely team up, as I imagine that this is one IPA which would work well with greasy burgers (in fact, there’s a little recommended food guide on the side of the label which does, indeed, include burgers.)
Anyway, this ticks all the boxes for me. It’s immediately reminiscent of the West Coast American IPAs but not as intense, and sometimes that’s a very good thing. It’s hoppy, fragrant, piney and bittersweet in all the right ways but also quite easy to drink. The alcohol’s a bit higher than a standard session beer so that could catch you out. I highly recommend this one, as it’s a great IPA that will appeal to the nastiest hophead but still might be accessible to someone who’s never really tried a highly-hopped beer, or someone who doesn’t really know if they like them or not. Good stuff.
And yes, the segue-fu is strong once again. Screaming for Vengeance is a great Judas Priest album, with all the strengths of the band married to a slight commercialism that makes the album highly accessible and yet it still screams. The opening is a classic heavy metal moment, the twin epic guitar attack of The Hellion followed by the sinister Electric Eye gets the ball rolling and you know you’re in for a treat. Everyone’s in fine form - Halford wails like his life depends upon it; the balladry of Take these Chains is actually incredible, the sexual innuendo on the tracks Fever and Pain and Pleasure makes you want to grind away like a fucking beast, and the speed metal classic of the title track makes you want to snap your neck. It’s an all-round satisfying Judas Priest outing, one that they sorely needed after the very disappointing Point of Entry, and as with the beer above compared to its style, it would be a good starting point for anyone not familiar with the band.