I have to be completely honest and up front here. Richmond, Virginia’s Inter Arma is one of my all-time favorite bands. So, it’s difficult to approach such a highly-anticipated album without that bias imposing itself upon my mind. After years of repeat listening, and having seen them live multiple times, it’s hard not to look at a new album of theirs like meeting a new friend, knowing at first glance that I’m going to click with him right away.
Objectivity is an illusion for most of us anyway.
This is my review; and I could have told you before I took the LP out of the box that I would love it, subjectively. But even if you don’t like psychedelic, sludgy, blackened death-doom metal, you have to recognize the plain fact that Inter Arma is, objectively, extremely good at what they do.
Out of the gate, the title track begins with an unsettling guitar progression, an extreme noise rock intro, accompanied by a strident scream. The song features prominently the frenetic drumming styles of T.J. Childers, overlaid persistently by the demented dual guitar noodlings of Steven Russell and Trey Dalton. The low end supplied by newcomer, bassist Joel Moore, is jarring, but at times matches the guitars in virtuosity, with undulating basslines that climb menacingly into the treble clef. Mike Paparo’s vocals are sinister, matching the ominous nature of the guitars and bass. The pounding of double bass propels the drums as they are hammered upon with reckless abandon. The lyrics build to an irresolute final scene: “The vault of your mine is your new heaven. Its flesh and steel wrought temple, your new asylum.” Then the question is posed, “Will you let me in?”
The second track, “Violet Seizures,” is introduced with T.J. deftly trilling on the floor tom. It then enters into a dissonant frenzy of cacophony, with Mike shrieking damningly about predatory gaunt wolves, and T.J. inveterate in expertly managing the task of laying down the most insane, machine gun blast beats that I’ve ever heard. The guitar riffs are otherworldly, inexplicably foreign and pleasantly off-putting. Words fail to describe this perfectly-composed, absolute seizure-inducing disaster. This is, scientifically, some of the most adept metal crafting ever recorded.
“Desolation’s Harp” puts Paparo’s dynamic vocal abilities on full display as he alternates between deep, guttural growls and shrill, upper-register screams. The lyrical quality is impressive throughout the album, but is scarcely more lofty than in this song, in which a “dream-spun kingdom” where “rains never cease,” keep “high roads in states of perpetual disuse, camouflaged from sight by sodden overgrowth of sinewy briar and serpentine vine.” The guitars play harmoniously, yet forebodingly, ambling toward a flowery climax, and flame out with splendor at the last gasp with Mike’s haunting words: “You’ll forever pluck the strings of desolation’s harp, longing for a soul to share in your oblivion.”
“Endless Grey” is a majestic instrumental sendoff to conclude side A, with gorgeous, guitar leads atop an antithetically slow tempo. Joel’s bass wizardry puts me in mind of Cliff Burton, a bright light snuffed at his peak; no more towering a comparison can be made for a burgeoning bassist.
The sounds of side B arise with “Gardens in the Dark,” an obscure ode to post-punk, with yawning vocals amid a cavernous expanse of faintly distorted guitar tones, warm bass grooves, and reverberating percussion. The slight divergence in musical genre is explained enigmatically by the lyrics, alluding to suicide as a means to calm a storm that would not subside. The tension is never really resolved as, disturbingly, the song comes to an unnaturally abrupt end after a faked fade out.
Next, “The Children the Bombs Overlooked” ensues with polyrhythmic drum patterns, greeted by haunting synth, and ghastly vocal articulations. The master craftsmanship of Inter Arma is perhaps most evident here in this shadowy track. As it fades out, I am left with mouth agape at the sagacity with which these mere mortals operate. The lyrics bemoan: “You stared into brutish jaws of strife’s heartless device, and you turned your back to hell.”
I can hardly express how much the song “Concrete Cliffs” guts me and fills me with emotion, every emotion from bliss to sadness to anger to joy to mournful aching in reflection upon the desperation that mental instability can usher in, not only for the person struggling with his/her mental health, but for that person’s caretakers and loved ones. This song is deep. The sonorous beauty of luminescent guitars, opulent bass, and crooning laments crash like waves on the shore of the soul with pneumatic force. The interjection of unexpected soulful, clean vocal harmonies tug even harder at the heartstrings. I can’t get enough of this song. It seems to invoke an impact on me, personally, as powerful as “Last Word” by Baroness, from the album that topped last year’s AOTY list. That portends great things for New Heaven in the race for my 2024 album of the year.
Check out the official music video for “Concrete Cliffs” here:
The last track, “Forest Service Road Blues,” is an acoustic nod to the band’s Southern roots, in which they incorporate piano, violin, and lap steel. This folksy mountain doomscape simply doesn’t persist long enough. It’s the least “metal” song on the album, but is, in reality, the coldest and darkest of all.
Tracklist
A1. New Heaven (7:29)
A2. Violet Seizures (6:30)
A3. Desolation’s Harp (4:30)
A4. Endless Grey (2:42)
B5. Gardens in the Dark (4:15)
B6. The Children the Bombs Overlooked (7:37)
B7. Concrete Cliffs (5:24)
B8. Forest Service Road Blues (3:16)
Total runtime: 41:43
New Heaven will be released this Friday, April 26 on Relapse Records.
Order here: https://www.relapse.com/pages/inter-arma-new-heaven
Be sure to follow Inter Arma on Instagram, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
Be sure to follow Relapse Records on Instagram, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
Official Website (Inter Arma)
Linktree (Inter Arma)
Official Website (Relapse Records)