Nothing characterizes sludge and doom like turbulence and despair — and Richmond, VA doom greats Inter Arma have pretty much captured these emotions and channelled them directly into the music on their latest release, Paradise Gallows.
The progress the band have made from their first live shows to now is pretty phenomenal; they've always played blackened doom, and they always did it well, but they've transformed from a local act playing with passion to a group that's created a well-organized and structured record. Each song on this album seems to represent a different stage of that transformation. Intro "Nomini" goes from acoustic to epic melodic metal riff, and first full song "An Archer in the Emptiness" launches into a full-throttle, death metal-influenced doom assault.
From there, the record gallops between slow and epic, fast and catchy, and completely misanthropic, with consistently awesome vocals and satisfying riffing and song structure. Throughout, Inter Arma are able to define their sound through strong playing and songwriting, but have enough skill to vastly vary their approaches to each song, despite varying sub-genre influences.
All doom fans should check out this album; those who aren't yet Inter Arma converts will more than likely be swayed by the cohesive chaos and neurotic introspection that define this album.
(Relapse)The progress the band have made from their first live shows to now is pretty phenomenal; they've always played blackened doom, and they always did it well, but they've transformed from a local act playing with passion to a group that's created a well-organized and structured record. Each song on this album seems to represent a different stage of that transformation. Intro "Nomini" goes from acoustic to epic melodic metal riff, and first full song "An Archer in the Emptiness" launches into a full-throttle, death metal-influenced doom assault.
From there, the record gallops between slow and epic, fast and catchy, and completely misanthropic, with consistently awesome vocals and satisfying riffing and song structure. Throughout, Inter Arma are able to define their sound through strong playing and songwriting, but have enough skill to vastly vary their approaches to each song, despite varying sub-genre influences.
All doom fans should check out this album; those who aren't yet Inter Arma converts will more than likely be swayed by the cohesive chaos and neurotic introspection that define this album.