#tsh is a web series its really good :]

[americanbarkadia]

if I had a nickel for every time there was a kind of obscure indie piece of media where a character named vivian was an antagonist but in a kind of fucked up and tragic way id have 2 nickels. which isn't a lot but it's fun that it's happened twice

[theseventhhex]

Inter Arma Interview

Inter Arma

After 13 years and three full-lengths, Richmond, VA-based Inter Arma are throwing down the proverbial gauntlet with their fourth album ‘Sulphur English’. Though the band has never really fit into any of underground metal’s ever-splintering subgenres, they’ve often been lumped into the “sludge” or “doom” factions—largely by folks who haven’t been paying attention. ‘Sulphur English’ is the result of this hate. From spiralling death marches (‘A Waxen Sea’) and primeval dirges (‘Howling Lands’) to fireside acoustic passages (‘Stillness’) and roiling power jags (‘The Atavist’s Meridian’), the album is Inter Arma at their most unconventional and severe. Despite all the new territory being covered both musically and lyrically, ‘Sulphur English’ isn’t an experiment. It’s not Inter Arma testing the waters. It’s a necessary step in the evolution of a band whose music remains unclassifiable... We talk to T.J. Childers about getting darker, touring downtime and YouTube binges…

TSH: As you readied and began work on the excellent ‘Sulphur English’, were there any predetermined intentions you had in terms of instrumentation?

TJ: We’ve just become tired of how repetitious and mundane the heavy music scene has become so we just wanted to write songs and riffs that we thought sounded unique.

TSH: What do you feel made the writing process of this record a lot more darker than ‘Paradise Gallows’?

TJ: Again, just feeling disenfranchised with the heavy metal music world led us to writing a record that just sounded generally angrier and darker than ‘Paradise Gallows’.

TSH: What sort of motivations do you draw on to pen a track like ‘Bumgardner’?

TJ: We wanted to make people feel uncomfortable and uneasy.

TSH: Also, what’s the backstory with a track like ‘Blood on the Lupines’?

TJ: We each took a hit of acid that was purchased from the dark web at band practice and that song is what happened.

TSH: How pleasing has been to feel like you are getting simpler with some songs?

TJ: We enjoy setting parameters for ourselves when writing songs then seeing how far and where we can go within those parameters. Example: a one note song where the guitar riff just chugs the whole time.

TSH: Does taking time out in isolation and having self-reflection allow you to in ways to excel more with your musical endeavours?

TJ: I’d say so. It’s good to have alone time with your instrument, if you know what I mean.

TSH: Is the false sense of entitlement of human beings still a topic that makes its way into Inter Arma music?

TJ: Absolutely. As I’m typing this I’m driving in morning rush hour traffic. I’m in the left lane and people are honking their horns at me. Like, where are you going that’s so much more important than where I’m going? We all work at Carmax, it opens at 9. You’re not gonna make more money by getting there earlier than me. You already make more money than me.

TSH: How many attempts does it take to get the feel right when you’re trying to sing on pitch?

TJ: Singing in the studio is always a pain in the ass. I don’t think anyone likes to do it.

TSH: What’s pleased you most about the band chemistry in the wake of completing this record?

TJ: We all get along really well with really great sexual energy. There’s a contemplative friskiness when we get together. An explosion of some variety could happen at any second.

TSH: How does the band like to spend their limited amount of downtime whilst on tour?

TJ: We’re never afraid to get into a good game of flashlight tag and we’re quick to find a local H&R Block and just go crunch some numbers for the heck of it!

TSH: Moreover, when you’re off tour and are at home, what hobbies and interests do you prefer?

TJ: Steven likes to rollerblade but only in the rain, Trey enjoys posing nude for figure drawing classes, Mike is an amateur lightning chaser, Andrew is a plastic enthusiast and I own a murder of nude mini horse.

TSH: When was your last YouTube binge, and what did you watch?

TJ: Right now as I’m driving to work I’m watching a series of “Epic Bird Fail Compilation” videos. It’s like birds hate their very existence and just want to die by flying into windows. So funny.

TSH: What’s the band ethos as you venture ahead?

TJ: Maybe there's some sort of animal we could make a sacrifice to. Like a giant buffalo or some sort of monster like something like the body of a walrus with the head of a sea lion. Or something with the body of an egret with the head of a meerkat. Or just the head of a monkey with the antlers of a reindeer with the body of a ... porcupine.

Inter Arma - “Howling Lands”

Inter Arma - “The Atavist's Meridian”

Sulphur English