Inter Arma
New Heaven
RELAPSE
Ever try to explain to someone who loathes heavy metal why you’d die on your sword if it went away? It’s an epic, labyrinthian challenge that inevitably requires the metalhead to open themselves up, to reveal personal hardships they’ve experienced in their life to anyone with a raised eyebrow. Ultimately, such rigorous debates leave both champions and haters of the genre unsatisfied, ending a sometimes hearty conversation with tired clichés like “To each their own” or “Different strokes.” Or “I’m your god now.”
But every now and again, a band cuts through the noise, so to speak, and wins over metal skeptics. Enter Richmond, Virginia’s Inter Arma, a crossover crew consisting of five guys who’ve surely grabbed a burger or 50 from the fast-food joint of the same name. After all, the gang has been in the game since 2006, touring relentlessly behind a heavy musical concoction that’s entirely their own and yet still continues to evolve. New Heaven, the band’s fifth studio effort of original material following their 2020 covers LP, is the latest piece of evidence exhibiting Inter Arma’s penchant for probing the innards of metal and reconstructing it into a seamless new visage.
The brilliance of Inter Arma goes far beyond skin-deep, though. They’re not concerned with mastering the art of subgenres like death metal, black metal, doom, or sludge. Rather, Inter Arma dig deeper with each successive record. All the while, no matter how far their artistic impulses take them, they never bury themselves alive by engaging in esoteric forays like so many prog bands do. Like Theseus, Inter Arma return to the central conceit of each song—no flaxen thread required.
Born at a time when Mastodon and Baroness—the Lewis and Clark of modern explorative metal—were reaching new peaks, Inter Arma kept a fairly low profile, focusing less on metal gymnastics and more on cracking the code to smoothly segueing from one ensconcing sound to the next. The fittingly named New Heaven connotes a new variation of Inter Arma’s sound while also winking at duplicitous, fire-and-brimstone evangelicals.
One of the most recognizable televangelist shysters of the 20th century, Tammy Faye Messner, became renowned for slathering criminally excessive amounts of makeup on her face. Meanwhile, Inter Arma are obsessed with scraping off cosmetics of any kind—and, in turn, baring their true selves for all to see. Having achieved and adhered to enviable levels of maturity and wisdom, New Heaven is proof of concept that Inter Arma, by staying true to themselves and shunning the trendy trappings of subgenres, is a band that’s built to last.
