Somehow, during the past few years, seeing live performances of Amorphis have become closely associated with a heightened state of intoxication on my part. In other words, attending their gig leads to excessive drinking, more often than not. I’m unsure about the reasons behind this phenomenon. Why am I unable to witness them sober? Is it something they do or fail to do? The lack of musicianship? The appalling quality of songs they churn out? The way they look on stage? Probably not, since it’s impossible to fit both “lack of musicianship” and “Amorphis” into the same sentence, the terms effectively canceling each other out. And the overall quality of the songs they churn out is way above the average I’d say and I fluently listen to them going at it. Watching them go at it on stage doesn’t hurt the eye, either. So, why? Me go gig=me be drunk. Me end up wasted, plastered, loaded, pissed, rat-arsed, smashed, et cetera.

Maybe the reason lies somewhere within the fact that Amorphis gigs are virtually the only gigs I regularly go to nowadays. Can’t think of any other band in Finland I’d like to go and see several times a year. Well, maybe CMX but going to their gig would be much more complicated, involving all kinds of tiring activities like purchasing the tickets in advance and then actually feeling compelled to watch the whole show after having paid for the ticket. With Amorphis gigs it’s much more straight forward, watching a few songs here and there and not feeling guilty for missing other songs after having had enough after half an hour or so, because I’ve heard and seen them a zillion times before.

They played a short set at an indoors rock festival in Jäähalli Helsinki last Friday and after that I went to a nearby bar and accidentally got so drunk that the following day I was visited not-very-briefly-at-all by the kind of hangover I haven’t had for years. I was planning on describing the magnitude of it in detail here but thinking of it now I don’t really feel the need to delve on it. It was utterly utterly unpleasant, keeping me all pale and wobbly and dying in bed all day and I can’t understand how I was able to survive similar hangovers on a weekly basis several years ago when I was single and got unreasonably drunk every weekend. I don’t even like the feeling of being drunk, have never liked it that much, and I sure don’t like the feeling of being hungover and am not going to experience that again in a hurry. I can’t blame this entirely on Amorphis but surely they’re partly responsible for my misery.

Well actually I can’t blame it on Amorphis at all. And I’m quite thankful of this reminder of how not to deal with alcohol in the future.

THIS WEEKS ALBUM OF CHOICE:
“The Way Of All Flesh” by Gojira. Yes a heavy metal album (from France, of all places) and apart from Opeth’s latest one probably the only one that’s impressed me this year. Of course I very seldomly bother with metal albums so I can’t know what I’m possibly missing out on but I’m not very interested in rectifying the situation either. Not flooding my ears with metal makes me appreciate the occasional high class metal album so much more, and this one undeniably is an offering of the highest class. Everything fits together perfectly, the songwriting is imaginative, the playing impressive, especially on the drumming front, the sound is crushing and brutal in just the right way, and the lyrics are probably thought-provoking and well constructed too, judging on what I’m hearing, can’t be sure because I usually am not that interested in checking out the lyrical content of metal bands and this is no exception. I’ve found myself continuously listening to this album lately. The only downside is the excessive lenght of it which makes it a bit too much to take in one go. Albums shouldn’t be allowed to last over 50 minutes in my opinion.

THIS WEEKS’ BOTTLES OF CHOICE:
On a previous post I mentioned having a good feeling about bottles having hippos and elephants on the labels. I’ve fallen victim to this before and am sure I will fall victim to it in the future as well. Putting pictures of animals on the label is a well-established practise, especially in South Africa it seems, when the need arises to divert the attention from the actual quality (or the lack thereof) of the wine itself. But it’s sometimes impossible for me to resist when a bottle looks like the one pictured here.

Fat Bastard is a very strong brand and a concept that has caught my attention in the past, so when I unexpectedly saw their Sauvignon Blanc in Finnish Alko there was no other option than to buy a bottle. The story in the back of the bottle and in their webpage is entertaining and probably total bullshit as well, not even specifying what type of their wines was the experimental kind that changed everything, but that’s beside the point. The sauv blanc is very average, forgettable and one-dimensional in a way probably closely resembling similar new world wines. It’s from France but has none of the subtlety and nuances of some of the more traditional French white wines I’ve tasted. I’d like to like all kinds of wines but these loud and straight forward types just don’t live up to what I expect of nice wines. It performed well enough as a companion to braised whitefish but didn’t really stand alone and two glasses of it was more than enough.

Here’s an exceptional one: half a glass of this was more than enough and the rest of the bottle went down the kitchen sink: Balance Sauvignon Blanc Brut, sparkling wine from South Africa, with an elephant on the label balancing itself on a tiny stool, supposedly in a humorous way. And yes, the label was the reason why I bought it and yes, it was most horrible of taste and aroma and will not ever be bought again. Dank, fetid and musty, with a vivacious blurb on the back label having nothing whatsoever to do with the reality of the wine. This was also the first time I’ve had sparkling wine made from sauvignon blanc and it doesn’t seem an ideal grape for this kind of wine. I haven’t liked anything I’ve tasted from South Africa, the reds have been too thick and crushing, the whites too thin and watery, and now this. Oh my God. Avoid at all costs.

Château Causse, on the other hand, is classy red wine from France, nicer and more inexpensive than the last French one tried, Cuvee Mythique. Maybe because I decanted it several hours before drinking, giving it time to properly open up, as it clearly did too, or maybe because it was such a lovely companion to Tajarin al Ragú I prepared with great care, or maybe because it just is a nicer wine. I will remember this wine in the future and might buy it again. My list of good and reasonably priced red wines could use a few additions.