Arise

Amazing musicianship to say the least.

No song really made me take notice and headbang as I thought they might.

From the cover, to the "Brazilian death metal", and from the first song, I instantly knew I was not gonna like this at all.

The Good: The only way is up!
The Bad: Sometimes, arise only refers to getting out of bed…
The Ugly: Finding out that your bed is a coffin…

Maybe it was my mindset while listening to this, so I get it… and I was banging along with the strong riffs, and I even did the horn sign with the hand… though at no point did I pretend to be a vampire.

It is interesting how one day you listen to this band and think “this is total shit” and another day it is just awesome!
There’s no explaining this…

So, am I to be considered a metal head now? Will I start painting fingernails black, get a fucking arm-sleeve tattoo that spills into the hand too? Will I need to change my wardrobe so that it includes predominantly black clothes?

4*, because I know that I will want to listen to this album again...

I was dreading a death metal listen, and my first reaction WAS to hate it... But my constant headbanging proved otherwise. This is fuckin awesome actually, kickass drums and guitar shredding nonstop. It's just shy of a 4 because I don't think it's entering the rotation, but I'm certainly more open to this genre now. Slipknot could never.

Standouts: Dead Embryonic Cells • Desperate Cry • Altered State

sepultura is a pretty badass name for a metal band. that said, hardcore metal is not really my genre. it's fine from a musical perspective, better than a lot of metal on here, but not for me, 2*

I liked the other Sepultura album on the list (Roots) except for the growling singing - it had a unique sound that warranted inclusion on the list, even if I didn't personally like the style. This one didn't really grab me, although I could handle the growl more for some reason. Every time I tried listening closely I found I wasn't all that interested. Except for a few interesting moments here and there, every song followed the same structure (with almost always the same thrash drum beat). Oddly, it worked as rocking background music for me, strange as that is to say. I'd say it's a 2.5, but I'll call it a 3 and move on. Tracks that caught my attention: Arise, Desperate Cry, Under Siege (Regnum Irae).

No

The songs on this album are like Taco Bell menu items: the same 4 or 5 ingredients together, but just called something different. All taste the same.

Some people really like Taco Bell. Not me.

The vocals really ruin music I could otherwise enjoy. I just do not care for that style.

⭐⭐

Hell yeah man! This rocks so hard! When Metallica was going alt rock these guys just got heavier and faster.

This is as hard as metal gets while still being music and it's way harder than I like.

enjoyed this like i do most thrash metal: like a bout of diarrhea. it’s loud, propulsive, and a little cathartic. good in an intense way in the moment, but i’m never dying to do it again right after.

I made it over halfway!

Pretty damn boring, but thats just my taste talking.
It wasn't bad at all. It's just not an exciting sound for me. There are absolutely amazing metal records, but this one just doesn't do anything special for me. Low 3

As much as I'm okay with thrash metal, I only made it a few tracks in. This quickly became tedious and far too samey.

Surprisingly middle-of-the-road.

When it comes to vocals, you need to have either good lyrics or a good voice. My problem with metal is they often have neither and this album is no different. The music is fine, even good at times, but feels generic for the genre. I struggle to see the value in listening to this album over any other metal album.

2nd one star album in a row and I can't wait for the 3rd 👍

I liked this one a little bit more than the last Sepultura album we had. But I didn't like it.

Way more thrashy and way less death metal than I imagined! Sick riffs and great songs! What a banger!

An album with a real clarity of purpose, this is a pretty perfect realization of the thrash model, it's full of rage and resentment, furious, aggressive and explosive. Relentless drums blast away like machine guns. Thunderous bass and tight dialed in guitars tear through riffs like tornados before unleashing some gnarly shreding solos and lead harmonies. The chug becomes a groove when they let it sprawl a bit. The vocals are a growling barked sub-scream, a bit one note though.