Arise

another entry from brazilian metal band sepultra, this one released several years earlier compared to roots, the last one i listened to. released after their breakthrough, these guys continued to embrace intense metal sounds while starting to incorporate other influences as well, including brazilian folk, punk and industrial. the album was raved and praised by many metalheads; heavy metal magazine revolver has stated that this album is an essential listen in the thrash metal genre. this album is FAST. you might want to hold on to your underwear, because this album waits for no one. those of you classic metal fans will really like the constant guitar chugging and pounding drums, vocalists kinda spitting in the mic. vocal quality and some of the lyrics seem to be weaker than the last album, but it's not significant enough for me to knock any points down. it's really interesting, sometimes it sounds like you're in a jungle. i'm surprised ratings seem to be lower on the 1001 site, i found it kinda kickass. doomslayer metal music.

Don’t listen to much thrash other than Metallica but this was epic. Perfect croissant making music

Second album proposé après ‘Roots’ que je connaissais mais que j’apprécie moyennement (3/5 - simpliste et monotone comparé aux albums précédents, en particulier ‘Beneath the Remains’ un de mes albums de métal préféré). Cet album fait partie de la transition entre BtR et Roots. Il n’est pas aussi bon que son prédécesseur (difficile à égaler), mais bien meilleur que les suivants. Il contient d’excellents morceaux, comme Arise entre autres. Il fait donc partie de ma collection. =>4/5

Talented musicians but it's just a stream of thrash metal with no softer tracks. I definitely prefer Metallica.

Not bad

Some fun heavy metal. Multiple times I thought 'that was the last song' then it'd start back up, almost indiscernible from other songs

One long crap shouty song. The lyrics read like they were written by a teenage boy with limited vocabulary and imagination.

Was like slightly more proggy Metallica at first, before turning into a straight up rip off. Boring. I'm certain they have better albums.

I like the instrumentals, but the vocals on death metal isn’t for me, and the lyrics just seem like random words.

Supposedly ground breaking, but I hear less of the hardcore and industrial influences and hear a fairly average Metal record with Morrissound production. It’s not bad, but not earth shattering either.

Suprisingly not bad. Double kick drums Metallica style heavy flow. A screamy at times but still decent enough vocals to make most songs out. Gives that angry rush you want with heavy music to head bang to although after a while can be a little monotonus.

Decent thrash album, like a good mix of Metallica and Slayer. Murder is a belter.

So sraight off the bat this is my kind of music, i could listen to this stuff most days without getting bored, but again i have to question why this is a must listen before i die album? I wouldn't say its a standout album in the genre, it wasn't groundbreaking, and most of the songs just blended into each other… there was nothing standout… I'm giving it a 4 because i enjoyed it more than i have a lot of albums so far recommended to me… and yes i would listen to more…. But i wouldnt say this is essential listening

Metal without much else. *partial listen

This is #day802 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... how about some thrash/death metal to kick off a Monday, aka my second and final record by Sepultura? I think I've said that before, but, again, if I'm in the mood for thrash, I'd most likely go and revisit some Metallica. Arise does what it sets out to do, but I wouldn't choose to go back. Let it be a 3 out of 5 again. Looking forward to #day803.

Powerful and noisy but not my genre

Feels like the perfect entry point to heavy metal for me. I’ve listened to smatterings before, but never a full album. I had this play through twice while I was driving—it’s great driving music. Love the tempo, love the energy. I was most surprised by the fact that the lyrics are actually intelligible (and intelligent). I kind of assumed the vocals were just used as an instrument (which they are as well, impressively!). Didn’t add any tracks to my liked list, but I’ll be coming back to this one for sure.

1991 -- 4th studio album -- thrash metal / death metal -- Brazilian heavy metal band formed in 1984 -- widespread acclaim on release; "progressive and technical abilities, and presents the band's first incursions with industrial music, hardcore punk and Latin percussion;" "Arise is widely considered Sepultura's greatest album;" toned-down pace and more groove in drum rhythms than prior albums; love for industrial and hardcore punk. Nah still can't do it. It all sounds technically incredible but wall-of-sound is not and never will be my listening preference. I want to scream.

This era of metal always just sounds so thin to me, like the playing's intense as hell and I like that, the groovier bits are ace, but it's just mixed in such an odd way. I like Sepultura a bit later on when they sounded a lot beefier but this just felt a bit limp. Props on an extremely metal album cover and covering Orgasmatron by Motorhead tho.

First listen Saved 0/9

Started out very great. Like top of all the trash metal i've heard, but i doesn't hold up till the end.

Solid thrash album. Killer riffs

So one-dimensional even Flatland looks down on it

3.4 Liked the thrash, but it felt a bit repetitive compared to other metal classics. That Orgasmatron cover is pretty terrible

Brazilian metal. The worst thing any album can be is boring. Well this is boring from a group of motorhead wanna bes.

I guess thrash carries a somewhat punk disposition, mainly due to the style of drumming, but if it's punk adjacent, it's not very interesting or profound. Metal has a unfortunate tendency to mythologize itself to the point that it usually devolves from sincerity to stupid self-seriousness. 'Land of anger, I didn't ask to be born / Sadness, sorrow, everything so alone.' Alas, this is on full display on Sepultura's Arise, an album that by the third track says all it's got to say, which isn't very much to begin w/. Instrumentally proficient but unvaried, Arise also proves that if you strip away the 'extreme,' which in the end isn't extreme but just wasteful energy, you're left w/ redundancy & unimaginative lyrics like: 'I can't trust anymore / Criminals within the law.'

should not have listened this back 2 back with slayer reign in blood. both sick but very similar thrash/speed metal.

Sorry, but Sepultura just isn't for me.

It felt like listening to an hour of the same song on loop.

The A-side is one of the finest collection of thrash songs ever. However, the B-side is highlights forgettable. By no means are any of the songs bad, but they just don’t stick.

Too painful to listen to, managed first 2 songs only.

Good trash album with solid riffs and hooks. My only caveat is the voice of Max Cavalera is somewhat buried into the mix. 3,5. Arise: 4 Dead Embryonic Cells: 4 Desperate Cry: 3,5 Murder: 3 Substraction: 4 Altered State: 3 Under Siege: 3,5 Meaningless Movements: 4 Infected Voice: 3 Orgasmatron: 3 Intro: 3 C.L.I : 3 Desperate Cry (Scott Burns Mix): 3,5

I was prepared for the possibility that I might enjoy Sepultura, but it was kinda felt like a surprise to enjoy this album as much as I did. Usually I get bored with thrash, it starts sounding the same and repeating itself, reusing cliches. This really had all kinds of turns and shifts in rhythm and tone. It definitely had my head going with the groove with I worked at my desk, but it kept grabbing my attention. 3.5/5. Noticing that the favorable reviews frequently say that their next few albums get even better, so really what I'm surprised at is the idea of looking forward to hearing more Sepultura.

3/5 stars, because.. It actually isn't really my cup of tea. Legendary band with legendary songs, but from the album, I listen to only 1 song, that being ''Dead Embryonic Cells''. And... That's really it. I love Max Cavalera as much as the next guy, but the one sepultura album i regularly visit is ''roots bloody roots'' and thats it.

Is it wrong to think that this actually kind of goes hard? Don't get me wrong I would never put this on during a leisurely afternoon, but as far as death metal goes this is hardly the worst out there. Worth a listen, at least once.

Awesome band

God I fucking hate metal

Favorite Track: Criminals In Uniform

Never a fan of Sepultura. This is nothing but absolute utter trash. In the good sense of the word. 8/10

I'm not a metalhead, but I don't mind having a bit of metal in my life. This doesn't really do it for me though.

Well, this still isn’t a genre that does it for me, but it has its moments. I liked the other Sepultura album more - this lacks the groove and dynamism that ‘Roots’ has. It certainly Goes Hard and has a kick ass album cover. It’s just not something I’ll be reaching for again.

My milestone albums have been pretty underwhelming so far. This kind of heavy metal just blends together too much for me to appreciate it

Konstigt att så här tung rock kan kännas som skön bakgrundsmusik/easy listening. Kanske bara mitt humör den dagen. En trea

I’ve liked music like this before, but for some reason this album was a little bit annoying to me. I’m honestly how little I liked it. I wouldn’t really consider myself a fan of death metal, but I’ve always been meh about it rather than actually disliking it. Maybe I’m just not in the mood.

Interesting. Not my taste. Death thrash but tangent to discharge and the later extremes where punk went.

Painful for me.

PURE PERFECTION. Dark, growling, trashy: Sepultura is metal at its best.

I was left with the impression that I had heard all on offer about 3 songs in. Compressed guitars, vocals that are grunted within the same octave, blast beats, overcrowded solo's. It creates a great washing wave of anger. But there is little variation to that wave. This one's for the metalheads. Not for me.

Sepultura really snapped on this one. They kept that heavy, aggressive energy but actually put some real bounce on it. That breakdown in "Dead Embryonic Cells" is still catching bodies. Remiendes a lot of Slayer, which I like a lot!

+1 for the drumming, -1 for the throaty singing voice. Makes me feel like every song is celebrating Beelzebub

This is what the weird kids in jr high listened to.

and people say all ac/dc songs sound alike? EVERY SONG ON THIS ALBUM IS IN THE SAME KEY . this is tiring

I'm half-Brazilian, and I know that Brazilians love heavy metal and extreme music. But, like many people in Brazil, I never really followed Sepultura closely, even when I lived there. I only got into thrash metal as a teenager, and by then I had already left the country. However, I was already into heavy music (mostly nu-metal), and I did ask for a copy of Roots when I was maybe 12 years old, much to my family's chagrin. So, this is my first time listening to this album—and consider me an instant fan! It's heavy, sludgy, and often fast, with dark atmospheric elements and catchy beats and bass riffs that would lay the groundwork for their groove metal phase. This was also a seminal release for the band: they went gold in Indonesia of all places, while also breaking through into the mainstream worldwide. They played 220 shows in 39 countries to promote the album, which is absolutely nuts. It also demonstrated that Brazil could produce more than bossa nova, samba, and MPB, and become a household name in niche and non-Latin music genres. Beyond the thrash and speed metal influences, there's also plenty of hardcore punk, industrial, and Latin percussion throughout. Andreas Kisser tears through the entire album on guitar like it owes him money, while Igor Cavalera and Paulo Jr. provide a catchy, groovy bass-and-drums combination, with double bass galore. And Max Cavalera? I only knew Derrick Green as the band's current singer, but I absolutely love Max's death growls/grunts and gravelly delivery. This album kicks ass. I don't know how I should rank it as a whole on the list, but as a thrash metal album, it's awesome. It's way more fun than Roots and just as evil-sounding. 5 stars.

Whew. That was intense. I can’t imagine being in a band like this and performing at this level of intensity daily. It can’t be healthy for your mental health.

Day992 - they really have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in 2026

Competent death/thrash metal. I respect their approach on this album, for I too am a fan of Einsturzende Neubaten, Nine Inch Nails, and Ministry. I appreciated the textural elements they lifted from these bands, while still being true to themselves. That said, this is probably not an album that I want to revisit in the future. But who knows? I have an open mind and anything could happen.

My dad probably likes these guys

Racous fun, lots of energy and great guitar solos

Not my thing.

There's a jazz drummer in the band now. Like a Big-Band jazz drummer

Not bad

Cracking stuff from one of their best albums

THIS, right here, is my kind of music. Pounding, furious rhythms, loud distorted guitar, and the pure anger expression by the vocals. Very few listening experiences on this list match this for sheer ferocity and righteous anger. Of course, this makes for one of my favorite albums. I own a copy on CD, it's that good. I understand that this style of music isn't for everybody, but it is very much my kind of music. It deserves a way higher rating than 2.7. This album is ranked #22 of 23 albums for 1991. Other 1991 albums rated by me: Ten(2/23)-4 The Low End Theory(4/23)-5 Blue Lines(6/23)-5 Achtung Baby(7/23)-1 Qui Seme le Vent Recolte le Tempo(15/23)-4 Spiderland(17/23)-4 Rising Above Bedlam(23/23)-2

Just loads of noise, not a metal fan though so no idea if this is any good

FUCKIN RIPS!!!!! 🤘🤘🤘

I know 1001 albums is plenty of room for variety but yikes

I was going to give this album a 4 as there are Sepultura albums i like more, however i'm giving it a 5 simply because it triggered the soft vanilla pink-butted vozol-vaping dreamy straw hat yee haw American countryside cowboys that only like who-gets-who Alabama country songs

….you know Roots is right there right? We’ll see if that’s on the list later but this is a weird choice

No

Sorry but just noise to me.

I got quite interested in the band's story while trying to distract myself from the album, which was a big of a slog. Learning that two brothers formed the band and then one of them left and they barely spoke for a decade moved me in a way the music didn't. Several songs start with pretty cool ambient sounds, synths and percussion, but none of that is really integrated into the songs, which are unmemorable. I didn't hate it; I'm sure it would be fun to see live. Several of my favourite parts were the more hardcore punk bits, but that only made me compare them with Reign in Blood, which is a far better album.

Oh wow ok, not crazy about these guys but I respect them

Two Sepultura albums being on here is a super pleasant surprise... love this

dawg this ripped so freakin hard

Alright

Shred, riff, thrash, scream, repeat. Can something this loud and aggressive actually be boring? I guess it’s cool that they’re from Brazil - I learned today that not all of this genre is Scandinavian. 1⭐️

I like metal but its funny that the small things can be such a strong turn off; I don't like this album very much, its very by the numbers death/thrash so it's not interesting enough lyrically, not singable, not danceable, not meaningful, and very repetitive.

603/1089 - I've listened to a lot more metal since starting this project and am convinced that Rust In Peace is the best by far.

My head was a bit of a mess when I listened to this, and actually some noisy, chaotic metal was just what I needed. Even though I was in a receptive mood, though, I can't say I enjoyed this very much. All the tracks really, really sound the same to a non-connoisseur, with the same pounding drums and insistent repeated motifs from the guitar, repeated across tracks, even. It's exhausting to listen to. Orgasmatron is the only track which had anything like a hummable tune, albeit with the same metal growl "singing" over the top. The slightly (very slightly) pop-punk riff on Murder made me think, however, that if you were a connoisseur, you might find to be that a real moment of levity and lightness if your sensibilities were calibrated exclusively to metal appreciation. I know that sounds really pretentious, but what I mean is that a metalhead might be desensitised to a lot of other sounds and genres, and it just makes me reflect on how important it is to branch out beyond your usual tastes and experience everything the world has to offer. Ideas like this are why I started and continue this 1001 Albums project, so I know I am getting a full breadth of musical life, or as near as possible. It's just a shame, then, that this album is still generic metal, though, and I have heard plenty of that. I can hardly believe that there are two Sepultura albums on this list. Are they that important, popular or influential on the metal scene? I think I got everything I was going to get out of Sepultura with their album Roots. Although maybe, just maybe, a metalhead would feel differently.

Wasn't the biggest Metal fan to begin with, and this didn't do much to shift that dial. Fave track: Orgasmatron

Was this thrash metal by Sepultra the album I needed to hear to finally sell me on metal as a genre? Not quite, unfortunately. 3/5

2,6 Highlights: Arise, Dead Embryonic Cells

Listened

First one in a while bit daunting due to the length. I listened to most of it in the gym good setting and the last 2 songs about 3 hours later. I quite enjoyed it up my street if somewhat unremarkable kinda background probaly my own fault 3 out of 5

The same track repeated till the end of time. No tunes. Crap vocals. No variety. At least the drummer is good

#465/1001. "Sepultura yeah!" is an eternal slogan uttered by a friend's daughter at the tender age of three or so. I was more or less grown out of the metal world when they rose to the game, changing my preference from Headbangers ball to 120 minutes / Alternative nation. Funny how "extreme metal" sounds already quite dated, and what was harsh then now just feels kinda, " oh, that was the early/mid 90s sound". Death metal? Or just thrash? Does it really matter? Funny how they also talk about industrial music or Latin influences, when they use those effects in a couple of intros. I don't know if Roots is here, but the few things I've heard from there are more interesting. Nah, metal is not for me, anymore

My ears......my ears....

I'm sure people love it. I am not one of those people

I didn't expect this to be such an old school thrash metal album, similar to Slayer. I heard Roots when it came up on this list, and while I respected it, I didn't personally connect with the style. This album (Arise), however, is much more straightforward and also very good thrash metal. I like it better than a lot of other stuff, too, as it doesn't ever get cheesy, slows down just enough to make the faster sections feel exciting, and the vocals are very good. I can understand why a lot of people wouldn't like this album, but it doesn't change the fact that it IS an exceptional example of the genre and nails perfectly what it is going for.

Not bad but I don’t dig the growly voice

It's speed metal, and it all sounds the same. It's not bad. It's well done. It's just not meant to be diverse.

Two whole Sepultura records on this list is pretty cool, though it is surprising that this one and not Chaos A.D. is included. Still, this one is heavy as hell and full of enough variation to keep things interesting. Given the dearth of metal deep cuts on here, I’m giving it 5 stars.

Gnarly thrash that was great fun to listen to. This album is in my wheelhouse so yeah no surprise I think it's great.

Ok. So i don't like Megtura or Sepultadeth.

Had none of the elements that made the other Sepultura surprisingly interesting. Desperately searching wiki track listing to see if there were any "bonus"tracks I could remove. Ended up a DNF anyway.

Sadly shows none of the redeeming characters of the previous Sepultura album, which in itself was a sparse dusting. It’s a hard “no” from me.

This is a cool thrash metal album, full of double bass and guitar solos. Some cool riffs and changes, full of energy. Not something I want to listen to an hour of though.

Not for me, but was interesting enough to keep me awake at work. Thank you to the percussion in particular. 2.5 rounded up to 3.

Heavy and awesome.

Sepultura’s Arise delivers a high-energy thrash experience hampered by muddy production choices, earning a solid 3/5. While weighed down by weak lyrics, a few forgettable mid-album lulls like "Murder" and "Meaningless Movements," and a noticeably muffled mix that smothers the drum tone throughout, the instrumental performances consistently shine. Highlights like "Dead Embryonic Cells" bring creepy vibes alongside a tight double-bass performance and great guitar pairings, "Desperate Cry" delivers a stunning—if tantalizingly brief—solo, and "Altered State" expertly shifts from an atmospheric intro into a heavy groove. Bookended by high-octane bursts in the title track and the furious closer "Infected Voice," the album's killer guitar work and raw momentum do enough to keep it afloat despite the muffled production drag.