Review: Inter Arma Embrace the Darkness on New Heaven

Since 2006, Inter Arma has been one of the heavier acts out there. Four years after the release of their last album Garbers Days Revisited, they’re back with New Heaven, perhaps their heaviest work to date. Where some of their past records floundered a bit in experimentation, this one cuts through the fat and just plain rocks.

Clocking in at 40 minutes, there is hardly a dull moment on the entire record. The band got their start so early they were clearly a little ahead of the times with their dissonant, sludgy sound and blatant disregard for rules or structure. Now, in 2024, they are pioneers of that style, and it feels like the band are finally getting their due.

The title track grips you right out of the gate with experimental guitar layers and more double bass and blasts than you can shake a stick at. “Violent Seizures” is, as the name implies, a rough one but a heavy one, more amazing drumming and double-time everything, contrasting with their sometimes slow pace.

Throughout the album, the thought I keep returning to is, “how the hell do they pull of this sound on track after track without loosing any steam?” Obviously not in a literal play-through sense, as I’m sure the album wasn’t recorded in one go, but in the sense that it never loses energy and none of the songs sound stale. There is honestly an entropy on this record that I can’t quite describe, but it goes beyond just usual song flow. The entire thing works together as a cohesive whole.

“The Children The Bombs Overlooked” is unfortunately a really spot-on song for the current time, and one that isn’t as almost hopeful or uplifting as the rest of the record, though it is still one of the heaviest and even still pretty catchy. “Concrete Cliffs” is the most exciting song from the band, highlighting what they are capable of when it comes to showcasing more beauty and melody.

As someone who originally hails from Virginia, I can almost feel the cicadas and humidity during “Forest Service Road Blues,” a hauntingly relatable ballad about checking out of life. It’s the perfect way to wrap up an expansive and reflective album that showcases what the band have to offer.

Inter Arma’s New Heaven is out this Friday, April 26, via Relapse Records. Preorder the album here.