Arise (Sepultura album)

Arise
Cover with various life-like forms.
Studio album by Sepultura
Released April 2, 1991
Recorded 1990–1991 at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida, United States
Genre Thrash metal, death metal
Length 52:20
Label Roadrunner
Producer Sepultura, Scott Burns
Professional reviews
Sepultura chronology
Beneath the Remains
(1989)
Arise
(1991)
Third World Posse
(1992)
Singles from Arise
  1. "Arise"
    Released: 1991
  2. "Dead Embryonic Cells"
    Released: 1991
  3. "Under Siege (Regnum Irae)"
    Released: 1991

Arise is the fourth studio album by Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura, released in 1991 through Roadrunner Records. Upon its release, the album received top reviews from heavy metal magazines such as Rock Hard, Kerrang! and Metal Forces.[1] Arise is considered Sepultura's finest hour among longtime fans.[2]

While the music on Arise was mostly in the same death/thrash style as their previous album, Beneath the Remains, it was clear that the Sepultura sound was acquiring an experimental edge.[3] The album presented their first incursions with industrial music, hardcore punk and latin percussion.[4][5]

The tour (1990–1992) that supported the album was the group's longest at that time, totalling 220 shows in 39 different countries.[5] During this trek, the album went gold in Indonesia—the band's first music industry certification.[6] By the tour's end, Arise had achieved platinum sales worldwide.[7]

Contents

Production

In August 1990, the band travelled to Florida, USA to work on the album. Scott Burns reprised his role as producer and engineer, and now with a major advantage: Sepultura were at his home base, Morrisound, a studio properly equipped to record their music style. Their label Roadrunner granted a $40,000 budget, which helped explain the album's improved production values. That allowed Igor and Burns, for example, to spend a whole week just testing the drum kit's tunings and experimenting with microphone practice.[8]

Musical style

Although lead guitarist Andreas Kisser stated that Arise "took a lot of the same direction" as their previous LP, Beneath the Remains, it was clear that their music had somehow changed.[3] Sepultura's usual breakneck pace became toned down a bit;[4] drummer Igor Cavalera started using groove-laden rhythms; and the Max Cavalera/Kisser guitar duo experimented with different tunings on some songs. According to metal specialist Don Kaye, the album "represented the band taking their initial death/thrash sound to its logical conclusion."[3]

Arise also found the band opening up to metal influences.[4] The Young Gods and Ministry were already part of Sepultura's listening habits, and slight touches of industrial music can be traced through the use of samples and sound effects.[5] A trademark of a later phase—Latin percussion and "tribal" drumming—made its first appearance on the song "Altered State". The band's old love for hardcore punk is evident on "Subtraction" and "Desperate Cry".[9]

Touring and promotion

Just one day after finishing the recording of Arise, the band embarked on a small headlining tour with extreme metallers Obituary and Sadus.[10] That was the start of the longest promotional tour of Sepultura's career, a worldwide affair that would span two full years.[5] In January 1991 they were invited to play for at the Brazilian music festival Rock in Rio 2 where their performance was watched by a 70,000-strong crowd.[11][12]

Before heading out of Brazil on a mid-1991 European tour, Sepultura performed one more concert at São Paulo, the country's largest city. It took place at Praça Charles Miller (in front of Estádio do Pacaembu), on May 11.[13] Local military police expected 10,000 to attend. 30,000 showed up instead, making crowd management nearly impossible. Six people were hurt, 18 were arrested and one was shot dead. A week before, a young man was stabbed to death at a Ramones concert in São Paulo, during a brawl between headbangers and skinheads.[14] These events were followed by a huge mainstream media backlash throughout the country against rock music.[15]

Sepultura's three-month tour with thrash metal groups Sacred Reich and Heathen was a critical success. For the first time they appeared on the cover of best-selling British heavy metal magazine Kerrang! and major pop weeklies such as Melody Maker and NME published long feature articles on the group. While in Spain Sepultura recorded their Under Siege video, which included their Barcelona concert and interview footage with all four members of the band.[16] After Europe, they toured North America with grindcore pioneers Napalm Death, NYC hardcore punk group Sick of It All and Sacred Reich.[17] Sepultura wrapped up the year doing a brief German tour with NWOBHM legends Mötorhead and Florida death metal group Morbid Angel in December.[18]

Sepultura then managed to secure a slot on two of the most sought after rock tours of 1992. One was done with ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne,[19] who was promoting his multi-platinum solo album No More Tears while the second tour was with industrial metal stalwarts Ministry and influential noise rock unit Helmet.[20][19] Both of these American acts had just released the most successful records of their careers - namely Psalm 69 and Meantime.[21]

A remastered version of Arise was released by Roadrunner in 1997, with added notes by music critic Don Kaye and four bonus tracks: a cover version of Motörhead's "Orgasmatron", a rough mix of "Desperate Cry" and two previously unreleased songs.[3] A previously unavailable photo shoot from the Arise period were also included in the expanded CD booklet.[22]

Reception

Arise garnered praise from a wide variety of sources. By the time of its release, major Brazilian newspapers were already aware of the band's existence, and advance copies sent to them were generally met with positive reviews. Artur G. Couto Duarte, writing for O Estado de Minas, described Sepultura's soundscapes as "stories describing barren worlds where disease, hunger, torture and death reign supreme". Folha de São Paulo's Sérgio Sá Leitão pointed out Sepultura's increasing compositional skills, drawing attention to how the band's occasional use of restraint benefited their songs as a whole.[11]

The international pop press also took notice of Brazil's premiere metal group. Top British weeklies such as the Melody Maker and NME wrote lengthy articles on the band, praising them. A Melody Maker journalist wrote: "Sepultura is [...] a Brazilian metal band which seems to be in the verge of getting big - maybe even bigger than Slayer, their only true rival." Genre-specific magazines also reacted positively to the group. Germany's Thrash elected Sepultura the best band in the world, defeating major contenders Metallica and Slayer. Sepultura were also prominently featured on the biggest metal publications of the time, such as Kerrang!, Rock Hard and Metal Forces.[1]

Arise was the first Sepultura record to enter the Billboard charts, at number 119.[23] It was also the first to gain a music certificationArise went gold in 1992 for selling 25,000 copies in Indonesia.[6] By 1993, the album had sold 1 million units around the globe.[7] In 2001, it won a second certification: silver in the United Kingdom, for selling in excess of 60,000 copies.[24]

Throughout the years, Arise has been continuously praised by the music press, not only as a landmark release of Sepultura's career, but of extreme metal in general. In November 1996, Q magazine stated that "Arise remains their thrash high water mark, sounding like an angry man throwing tools at a urinal while reading the Book of Revelations."[25] Allmusic contributor Eduardo Rivadavia considered Arise as "a classic of the death metal genre."[26] The album also appeared in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2006), edited by writer Robert Dimery.[27]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Arise" (Max Cavalera, Sepultura) 3:18
2. "Dead Embryonic Cells" (Cavalera, Sepultura) 4:52
3. "Desperate Cry" (Andreas Kisser, Sepultura) 6:40
4. "Murder" (Cavalera, Sepultura) 3:26
5. "Subtraction" (Kisser, Sepultura) 4:46
6. "Altered State" (Kisser, Sepultura) 6:34
7. "Under Siege (Regnum Irae)" (Cavalera, Sepultura) 4:53
8. "Meaningless Movements" (Kisser, Sepultura) 4:40
9. "Infected Voice" (Kisser, Sepultura) 3:18
10. "Orgasmatron" (Michael Burston, Phil Campbell, Peter Gill, Lemmy) 4:15
11. "Intro" (Sepultura) 1:32
12. "C.I.U. (Criminals in Uniform)" (Katherine Ludwig Moses, Sepultura) 4:17
13. "Desperate Cry (Scott Burns Mix)" (Sepultura) 6:43

Track 10 was both a bonus track for the Brazilian release and a b-side of the Dead Embryonic Cells single. Tracks 11–13 are only available on the 1997 remastered re-release.

Chart performance

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1991 The Billboard 200 119[28]

Credits

Bibliography

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Barcinski & Gomes 1999, pages 99 & 103.
  2. Kennedy, Hagen (2006-04-06). "Sepultura - Biografia". Rock e Heavy Metal - Whiplash!. http://whiplash.net/materias/biografias/038376-sepultura.html. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kaye, Don (1997). Album notes for Arise by Sepultura, p. 10 [CD booklet]. New York, NY: Roadrunner Records.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 89.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 90.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 109.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Rivadavia, Ed. "((( Sepultura > Biography )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifoxqr5ldke~T1. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  8. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 86.
  9. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, pages 47 & 89.
  10. Alexander, Phil (1997). "Cause of Death: A Personal History", p. 05 [CD booklet]. Album notes for Cause of Death by Obituary. New York, NY: Roadrunner Records.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 91.
  12. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 93.
  13. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 94.
  14. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 96.
  15. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 97.
  16. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 99.
  17. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 103.
  18. Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 105.
  19. 19.0 19.1 Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 115.
  20. Ruhlmann, William. "((( No More Tears > Overview )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:39ftxqe5ldse. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  21. "GOLD AND PLATINUM - Searchable Database". RIAA. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  22. Kaye, Don (1997). Album notes for Arise by Sepultura, pp. 08–09 [CD booklet]. New York, NY: Roadrunner Records.
  23. "Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales". Billboard Music Charts. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=305&cfgn=Albums&cfn=The+Billboard+200&ci=3010577&cdi=6536172&cid=05%2F04%2F1991. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
  24. "CERTIFIED AWARDS". THE BPI. http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinum.html. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
  25. "Sepultura Arise CD". Q Magazine. http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1019513. Retrieved 2008-06-24.  Archived at CD Universe - Your Online Music Store
  26. Rivadavia, Ed. "((( Arise > Overview )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9fqxqy5ldde. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  27. Stuchbery 2002, page 669.
  28. http://www.billboard.com/album/sepultura/arise/15246#/album/sepultura/arise/15246