PARADISE GALLOWS

"Paradise Gallows" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, Virginia based sludge/post metal act Inter Arma. The album was released through Relapse Records in July 2016. It´s the successor to "Sky Burial" from 2013, although the two albums were bridged by "The Cavern" EP from 2014. The lineup who recorded "Sky Burial (2013)" are intact.

Stylistically Inter Arma have developed and refined the rather eclectic metal style they played on the predecessor, and if possible "Paradise Gallows" is an even harder to label album than "Sky Burial (2013)" was. The music features elements of sludge, Post-metal, death metal, doom metal, and black metal. So the listener is exposed to both mid-paced sludgy sections, slow and heavy doomy sections, atmospheric post-metal sections, brutal death metal sections, and fast blasting blackened sections. The vocals vary between growling, raw shouting hardcore influenced vocals, black metal type shrieking, and clean vocals on the closing track "Where the Earth Meets the Sky".

The band are well playing, and the album features a dark, organic, and professional sound production, which suits the material well. So "Paradise Gallows" is on most parameters a high quality release. It´s up for debate if the eclectic nature of the material is a strength or a weakness, but that´s probably an aquired taste, and fans of releases featuring many different stylistic traits should find lots to enjoy here. It´s adventurous music and the listener is taken on a 70 minutes long and dark journey, featuring more than a few surprises on the way. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)