Inter Arma (US progressive black/sludge metal)

Anybody else here familiar with this group? UMUR have a review up on the site for the Sky Burial album, so somebody must be paying attention. I've been on the look for groups combining black/doom metal that get both parts yet, with the most satisfying so far being the British weirdos Dragged Into Sunlight whom it helps have a very unique well-thought out conceptual aesthetic concept.

Inter Arma are closer to cosmic sludge somewhat in the vein of YOB with whom they've toured, but with more emphasis on the black metal influences in the vocals and faster sections. These guys are a real everything-but-the-kitchensink type of group, though, throwing in psychedelic analog synthesizer/guitar lead duels and extensive dynamics relying on surprising amounts of American folk music influences in the acoustic parts as well as having a very "punky" way of playing most of their metallic riffs which results in the song structures' tension-and-release dynamics feeling rather off-kilter by the genre's standards. As you can guess, there are times when their ambitions outstrip their songwriting skills and the different influences either don't come together the right way... most notably the hardcore punk ethos isn't the quite right fit at times. Also that the instrumental interplay gets a bit too all-over-the-place to have a clear focus. With all that in mind, their best songs are damn impressive:





I get the impression Inter Arma are the kind of band where the entire "package" of lyrics and visuals expressing an overall concept behind the music is extremely important, so I think I might have to absorb Sky Burial a bit more before I think I've found a definitive opinion on it. I do know what the title of the album refers to, however.

Haven't heard their new "album-length EP" Caverns yet, but I've heard it develops that conceptual aspect of the band further as it's a 45-minute composition meant to be listened in one sitting sans distractions. Anyone here listened to that record?

From the reviews I've read it sounds like it might fix some of the few issues I had with their previous material.


Edited by Toaster Mantis - July 01 2015 at 02:04

Funny that it's different parts of the many disparate influences on Inter Arma's signature sound that we each find distracting. The individual genres combined have definitely been done so in a more all-over-the-place fashion than the more seamless synthesis of inspirations characterizing Neurosis and YOB, whom the group mention as specific inspirations so I think it's a deliberate decision to do things differently.

In any case, it's good to hear that they've been working on sorting out the issues with their songwriting on The Cavern so I'm eager to listen to that record. Just found a stream of its entirety online, which I don't have time for right now but will be bookmarking to listen to later.


Edited by Toaster Mantis - June 26 2015 at 05:17

Dammit I'm not sure how I missed this band. Some similarities to Kylesa in the vocal style (a band I love).

I have now given The Cavern a couple more listens and I have to say it is by far a superior record to Sky Burial. The overtly psychedelic influences are integrated much better, as are the American folk music and black metal elements. This is perhaps because having the album be one long song allows for a much more drawn-out narrative composition with more build-up to transitions, but also because many of the outside elements are incorporated in very subtler manners in small details like vocal nuances or guitar riffing.

Of course, it's even more demanding of the listener in requiring full concentration. Really plays like a suite that builds up tension across multiple movements before releasing it and resolving themes to develop further on a really large scale. Helps that I listened to it after a couple of YOB albums, Mike Scheidt and company having a similar ethos to how they compose music. Apparently they had some outside help from members of the doom metal group Windhand, which I need to investigate further at some point.