UMUR "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.

Nightfly Inter Arma’s new album, Paradise Gallows is my introduction to this incredible band. It’s their third so far so I’m looking forward to checking out the back catalogue of these ultra-heavy Virginian’s on the strength of this one.

Paradise Gallows may just be the heaviest album I’ve heard this year. Sludge may be where we have them listed here on MMA but this band clearly refuses to be bound by genres incorporating doom and death metal into their sound. Album opener Nomini gives no hint of the barrage of slow doomy hypnotic riffs to follow and sounds more like something from a Wishbone Ash album. The theme returns for longer later in the album on Potomac but this time injecting some heavier elements as it builds to a climax. The contrast couldn’t be greater as the doomy An Archer In The Emptiness kicks in and the sound is huge. The riffs are monolithic as are T J Childers drums and what an inventive player he is! Vocalist Mike Paparo alternates between a low death growl and a scream. Most of the songs are pretty long sometimes breaking the 10 minute barrier giving them the opportunity to lock into a groove or build to a tumultuous crescendo. Most of the riffs are slow and heavy but the drums are everywhere with rolling double kick patterns, blastbeats and fills contrasting, Transfiguration being a case in point. While there’s a similar feel throughout the album, apart from the few mellower moments, they create enough musical tension to make it an overall compelling listen. The climax of all this mayhem is Violent Constellations, the second last track where they seem to pull out all the stops and create their most apocalyptic moment of the entire album. In case it’s all a bit too much they’ve chosen to end with the acoustic guitar driven Where The Earth Meets The Sky with clean vocals and even harmonies!

Paradise Gallows is an awesome slab of metal and anyone who enjoys the more extreme sub-genres are advised to check these guys out. For me it’s up there in my top 5 albums of the year so far.