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Inter Arma: Fall Tour Announced

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 10th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

Richmond blackened sludgers Inter Arma‘s Sundown (reviewed here) isn’t something I put on every day, but I have been known on nights no one else is left in the office to blast the holy hell out of it. The louder you go the better it gets. Pretty simple math.

I’d imagine it’s even meaner in-person, despite the friendly looks in the picture above, and I think maybe I’ll go find out when they come through town. Here’s the info off the PR wire:

After releasing their stunning debut, Sundown (via Forcefield Records in 2010), the band hit the road running and have seldom stopped, touring heavily with brother band Bastard Sapling and sharing stages with the likes of The Body, Nocturnal, Castevet, Woods of Ypres, hometown homies Cough, Battlemaster, Cannabis Corpse and tons more. Inter Arma go hard, and once you catch a glimpse of frontman Mike‘s wildman antics or get nailed by one of their piledriver riffs, you’ll be glad you got hit.

Inter Arma fall 2011 tour dates:
10/20 Baltimore Golden West Cafe w/ Balaclava
10/21 Philly The Station w/ Balaclava, Fucked Forever, Bubonic Bear
10/22 Easthampton, MA Flywheel Arts Collective  w/ Katahdin, Hackles
10/23 Boston W.P.T.A.W.T.T.A.P w/ Furnace, Barnburner, Elitist, Blood of the Gods
10/24 Providence TBA/Help
10/25 Connecticut TBA
10/26 Brooklyn The Acheron
10/27 Washington D.C. Asefu’s
10/28 Pittsburgh TBA
10/29 Athens Ohio Morguefest w/ Locusta, Artillery Breath and more
10/30 Indianapolis TBA/Help
10/31 Milwaukee TBA
11/01 Appleton WI Maritime Tavern w/ The Parish, Mellow Harsher
11/02 Chicago TBA
11/03 Ft. Wayne Harrison St. House
11/04 Columbus Carabar
11/05 Lexington KY House Show
11/06 Nashville TN The Little Hamilton
11/07 Knoxville TN The Poison Lawn
11/08 Asheville NC The Get Down w/ Mose Giganticus, Shadow of the Destroyer
11/09 Blacksburg VA TBA
11/10 Richmond VA Strange Matter w/ ABSU, Infernal Stronghold, Battlemaster, Earthling

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audiObelisk: Windhand Stream Entire Debut Album

Posted in audiObelisk on September 29th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

Emitting molten, viscous, riffs and nod-worthy doom crashes, the Richmond, Virginia, collective Windhand make their debut on Forcefield Records with a five-track, self-titled album. The dual guitar five-piece formed in 2008 and I was lucky enough to catch their set in August at SHoD. It was my first time seeing the band, but when vocalist Dorothia Cottrell said they’d have a record out this fall, I took note.

Well, as previously reported, Windhand‘s Windhand is due Oct. 25. The album is a distinctly American answer back to the all-consuming distortion and bleary-eyed psychedelia of Electric Wizard‘s latter-day missives that strips away some of the cult mentality and puts in its place a woodsy sensibility — not forest-dwelling silliness, but something organic and un-postured. Guided by the slower-than-fuck guitar work of Asechiah Bogdan and Garrett Morris and skillfully underscored by bassist Nathan Hilbish and drummer Ryan Wolfe (also of The Might Could), tracks like “Libusen” and sprawling, screaming, feedback-caked closer “Winter Sun” offer vindication for those who’d let riffs steal the ground from underneath their feet.

In short (ha!), it’s heavy as hell and packed with slow low-end doomed groove. Forcefield Records and Catharsis PR were kind enough to let me stream Windhand in its entirety, so if you’d like to let it ruin your life — and I think you would — you’ll find it on the player below, followed by some light blue PR-wire type info:

Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!

Richmond, VA, may be known primarily for its wicked thrash and crust punk scenes, but there’s something evil lurking within that doomed old capital. Psyched-out, Electric Wizard-loving, ultra-Sabbathian amplifier worshippers Windhand, who boast ex-members of heavy riffters Facedowninshit and Alabama Thunderpussy within their ranks, have risen. On the heels of a recent Northeast tour and numerous triumphant local appearances, Windhand will be releasing their self-titled debut LP via Richmond‘s own Forcefield Records.

Slated for an Oct. 25 release, the record will be available in a limited gatefold pressing of violet wax, and was recorded/mixed by Garrett Morris (Parasytic, Bastard Sapling) at the Dark Room with Slipped Disc Audio‘s Bill McElroy (Pentagram, Avail, Alabama Thunderpussy) handling mastering duties.

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Windhand: Self-Titled Debut Due Oct. 25

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 7th, 2011 by JJ Koczan


After seeing their recent set at Krug’s Place as part of Stoner Hands of Doom XI in Frederick, Maryland, I’m psyched to hear what kinds of electric wizardry Windhand will bring to their Forcefield Records debut, set for release on Oct. 25. The PR wire sent along the following info, which you’ll find in the apparently Google Readerproof #ccffff blue below:

On the heels of a recent Northeast tour and numerous triumphant local appearances, psyched-out ultra-Sabbathian amplifier worshippers Windhand, who boast ex-members of heavy riffters Facedowninshit and Alabama Thunderpussy within their ranks, will be releasing their self-titled debut LP via Richmond‘s own Forcefield Records.

Slated for an Oct. 25 release, the record will be available in a limited gatefold pressing of violet wax, and was recorded/mixed by Garrett Morris (Parasytic, Bastard Sapling) at the Dark Room with Slipped Disc Audio‘s Bill McElroy (Pentagram, Avail, Alabama Thunderpussy) handling mastering duties.

Windhand was formed in 2008 in Richmond, and self-released their first demo in 2010. Original drummer, Jeff Loucks, parted ways with the band in early 2010, with current drummer Ryan Wolfe (ex-Facedowninshit) joining shortly thereafter. Their mammoth debut LP will be available for preorder on Sept. 27th — stay (down)tuned!

Windhand, Windhand track listing:
1. Black Candles
2. Libusen
3. Heap Wolves
4. Summon the Moon
5. Winter Sun

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Inter Arma, Sundown: Life Under the Gun

Posted in Reviews on December 17th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

Like their fellow Richmond-dwellers in Cough, the Richmond five-piece Inter Arma have managed to find a niche for themselves within the well-explored grounds of Southern sludge. Where Cough – and since Cough made their debut, as Inter Arma does now, on Forcefield Records, it doesn’t seem like an unfair comparison – brought an Electric Wizard-style ritualism to the Virginian tradition for abrasive riffing and screaming, Inter Arma’s first full-length, Sundown, finds them adopting some of the sonic temperament and aesthetics of blackened and other extreme metals, so that the double-guitar riff-based groove is only a portion of their attack, and by no means the sole focus stylistically. Inter Arma’s Sundown – available on vinyl or CD/download with different tracklistings – is consistent in its meanness of attitude and visceral anger, but also presents some sonic turns that followers of traditional sludge might not see coming.

And they don’t waste any time in doing so either. The short piano intro “Prolegomenon” leads into the seven-minute “All Time Low,” which starts with guitar feedback and punkish snare taps from drummer T.J. Childers (Lord by Fire). Inter Arma slam through tempo changes with aggression and ease, landing on a cowbell (yes, they broke out the cowbell on the first track) groove that accompanies a riff-fest from guitarists Steven Russell and Trey Dalton. Vocalist Mike Paparo’s throaty rasp is responsible for much of Sundown’s extremity; it’s entirely possible that with, for example, someone who did more clean singing, Inter Arma would be a totally different band. His approach works for the massive slowdown at the end of “All Time Low” however, the tortured screams only adding to the feedbacking atmosphere of viciousness. “2000 Years,” which follows, picks the pace back up and affirms the course “All Time Low” set, ranging in tempo and offering a more memorable chorus before a break brings in one of Sundown’s several standout solos. If nothing else, “2000 Years” acts as a bridge for the CD/download-only cut “Hallucinatorium,” which is shorter by almost half at 3:41 and almost purely black metal in style, Paparo giving a Fenriz-style gurgle over Childers’ blasting and the squibbling fury of Russell and Dalton. Bassist Tommy Brewer still has a ways to go before his standout performance on the closer, but he does well enough with the breakdown beat that closes “Hallucinatorium” as well.

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