Inter Arma - Sulpher English (New Vinyl LP)

Vinyl LP pressing. Richmond, VA”s Inter Arma, reigning masters of the slow build, continue to trace a distinctly ambitious trajectory through modern metal. Their impulses tend toward the epic, but never bloat; they meld several styles – doom, sludge, and hard psych – without coming off like dilettantes. This newest full-length, Sulphur English, finds them mining deeper in the proggy organic doom fields that made both Paradise Gallows and Sky Burial so thrilling while expanding further on the psych-folk strain that made those albums” peaks seem so lofty. Few metal bands have ever made such effective use of acoustic instruments in truly heavy environments as Inter Arma do; the acoustic guitar that stitches “”Stillness”” together is as effective as any overdriven bass; a two-minute gloomy piano-and-feedback piece titled “”Observances of the Path”” rolls out the carpet for “”The Atavist”s Meridian,”” an album highlight that rides a gigantic, roomy drum sound into realms akin to a murkier Paradise Lost, a more aggressive Om, and a dreamier, more stoned Kylesa all playing together at once.