Year Of Metal #035: Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows
Inter Arma aren’t the biggest metal act around - indeed they don’t as yet have a Wikipedia page, despite over a decade of critically acclaimed work - but this 2016 record might be my favourite so far. It’s a modern twist on the tried and true doom/sludge format, and the result is bold, progressive, and surprisingly varied.
Opener “Nomini” is a pretty instrumental with some classic heavy metal guitaring, but they really get down to business on “An Archer In The Emptiness”. As is a recurring theme, this is a seven minute track that just doesn’t stop building. The initial lumbering riff is slowly joined by propulsive drums and ominous vocals, and eventually guitars of all stripes, peeling off high, piling into the chugging motif.
They dig into classic doom on the brilliant “Primordial Wound”, a claustrophobically slow track in which drummer T.J. Childers sounds like he’s playing in glue. Every anguished cry or shriek of feedback contributes to the mood; things, it seems, are falling apart all around us. The vocals are torn down to a ghastly, wounded whisper before surging back to life for a final push into the murk.
The high point of the album, though, comes in the one-two punch of “The Summer Drones” and “Potomac”. The former lives up to its name in spades, built from one thudding note while a spindly guitar part wraps around it. The drums play a marching beat, but the whole effect’s more hypnotic than propulsive, the illusion of movement rather than movement itself. Mike Paparo switches between clear vocals way back in the mix and an anguished bellow in the (sort of) chorus. It’s trance-like stuff. Though the volume rises, the listener’s only drawn closer in.
“Potomac”, meanwhile, is a return to those pretty, classic rock guitars we heard on the opener. Inter Arma even stick some piano into the mix for a spell. It’s a well earned moment of chiming prettiness on an album that prioritises texture and weight over melody. Combined, the two tracks drain the record of colour and then stick it back in.
You can see why this wouldn’t be an immensely commercial proposition and I’ve no idea what subgenres are in vogue in the metal world at present, but an album of this cohesion and craft deserves a hell of a lot more recognition. I’m predisposed towards the doom side of things as a rule, but Paradise Gallows does so much more than that, from the down the line death of “Transfiguration” to the progressive, almost avant-garde “Violent Constellations”.
This is a record you can truly sink into, and that name suits it down to the ground. There’s plenty of beauty to behold here, but brutality and horror too. It’s quite the experience.
