Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows

Inter Arma share "The Paradise Gallows"; Withered share "Downward"

We mentioned that Richmond experimental metal crew Inter Arma have a new album on the way called Paradise Gallows. They’d already shared the arty, brutal track “Transfiguration,” and now they’ve shared the title track from the album.

As has become Inter Arma’s calling card, the song packs a ton of stylistic range into its 11 minutes. Opening with a mellow, ambient intro that makes use of pedal steel and sounds a lot like certain Swans interludes, it kicks into a thundering melodic doom passage around the four-minute part. After stomping its way around the joint for a while we get a classically epic guitar solo over a gradual build of intensity from the rest of the band before a beautifully heavy coda sends everything out. Inter Arma have a unique feel for songwriting at large lengths (as evidenced by the jaw-droppingly great 40-minute song The Caver), and they consistently reach here for a kind of mournful, uniquely southern emotional heft amidst the heaviness. That they get there more often than not is pretty impressive. Stream “The Paradise Gallows” below.

Meanwhile, Inter Arma will soon be hitting the road with Withered, who just released a new song of their own. That track is called “Downward,” taken from their upcoming LP Grief Relic, and its a brutally knotty piece of proggy death metal. Original Withered members Mike Thompson and Beau Brandon are now joined by Colin Marston of Gorguts on bass and Ethan McCarthy of Primitive Man on guitar/vocals, and supergroup-ish status of the band manifests in some truly inventive left-turns musically. Listen to that below.

Paradise Gallows is out July 8 via Relapse. Grief Relic hits on May 27 via Season of Mist. Listen to the Inter Arma song below, and the Withered song at Stereogum.

The tour hits NYC on July 8 at Saint Vitus, and since we last spoke, Pyrrhon were added. Tickets for that show are still available.

Inter Arma / Withered — 2016 Tour Dates
Jul 5 Washington, DC DC9
Jul 6 Philadelphia, PA Boot & Saddle
Jul 8 NYC/Brooklyn, NY St Vitus
Jul 9 Boston, MA Great Scott
Jul 10 Buffalo, NY Waiting room
Jul 11 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Jul 12 Detroit, MI Pike Room
Jul 13 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Jul 14 Milwaukee, WI Cactus Club
Jul 15 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
Jul 16 Fargo, ND The Aquarium
Jul 19 Seattle, WA Barboza
Jul 20 Portland, OR Dour Fir
Jul 22 San Francisco, CA Thee Parkside
Jul 23 Glendale, CA Complex
Jul 24 San Diego, CA Soda Bar
Jul 25 Phoenix, AZ Rebel Lounge
Jul 28 San Antonio, TX Limelight
Jul 29 Austin, TX Sidewinder
Jul 30 Dallas, TX Three Links
Jul 31 New Orleans, LA Gasa Gasa
Aug 1 Birmingham, AL Spring Street Firehouse
Aug 2 Atlanta, GA The Earl
Aug 3 Asheville, NC Mothlight