I first spoke to Inter Arma vocalist Mike Paparo when he was in route to a swimming hole someplace near Corbin, Oregon.
I first spoke to Inter Arma vocalist Mike Paparo when he was in route to a swimming hole someplace near Corbin, Oregon.
They had just played a show in Portland. Paparo said the show went well, but the Richmond-based prog-sludge-metal band didn’t quite feel “underground enough” for the historically hip North-western scene.
“Portland is a little funny sometimes. It’s one of those places were people are there with their arms crossed,” he said. “Maybe some of them are there just to be seen – yea know?”
This is an admitted shift for a band that got their start in the late 00’s working with Richmond’s Forcefield Records. Back when we wrote about them in RVAMag #5, the band was still making house shows sweaty and covering fans in beer.
But change happens. The band has since joined Relapse Records and switched to a Tennessee studio, Dark Art Audio. They ended up there thanks to their relationship with Hellbender’s Mikey Allred.
“[Allred] just said, ‘hey, I want to record your band.’ and we listened to what he recorded and we liked it, so we did,” Paparo said.
Allred ended up recording the last three releases from the band, including 2013’s full length Sky Burial and The Cavern, a solid 45 min single track release:
The Cavern was actually an older track they returned to and finally recorded while most of their tracks, including everything on their newest release, Paradise Gallows, was written and worked up leading to the new release.
“Our recording process is pretty consistent,” Paparo said, noting they usually just end up writing and going into the studio without much fuss or rehashing, though some of the new tracks do date back to 2013.
While the band’s now far from the basement shows and Metal Hotel they once inhabited here in RVA, hipster Portlanders are not the only folks taking notice of their sound. They’ve had a number of premieres on NPR, including a track from Sky Burial, but more recently the entirety of Paradise Gallows as a “First listen” and their video for “The Summer Drones:”
“There’s more people coming out [to our shows], more people excited, different types of people are excited,” Paparo said about the national press from the usually more uptight outlet. “We’re not one of those bands that’s going to appeal to the dude only into old school metal or death metal. You’ve got to have a bit more of an open mind to give us a shot.”
Inter Arma’s shift in tones and styles throughout their recordings might be a bit of a jump for any one metal head, but the praise they’ve received from more traditional outlets is by no means undeserved.
Paradise Gallows might not be a departure from earlier works, but it does show a great understanding of craft and nuance. From “southern boogies” to harsher drones, whispered screams to powerful bellows, and finally chugging riffs to chaotic percussive barrages, there’s a little bit for everyone on this release.
The band is set to end their summer tour this Friday with a stop at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery (snag tickets early here), so you’ve got a chance to catch them before they head back on the road for an early-fall series of dates.
