Reevaluating Arise by Sepultura

Longtime readers of this blog may recall that Sepultura was a hugely important band during my formative years as a metalhead.  They were truly my gateway into more extreme forms of metal, not that they were overly extreme during the time period, but Morbid Visions was my first death metal album.  Sepultura was also the first band who I truly attempted to get as much music as I could find.  I picked up singles, compilations with new songs, EPs and even bootlegs in my quest to add as much Sepultura music as I could. 

But for some reason, despite all these random pick-ups, I could not find Schizophrenia, Beneath the Remains, or Arise.  So I missed out on three of the band's best albums.  It was not until much later that I finally added those three releases.  Beneath the Remains quickly took over as my favorite Sepultura album due to the presence of "Inner Self" and the title track.  Schizophrenia never really caught on due to the terrible production.  Arise also did not truly make much impact on me.  That changed recently though.

I am not sure what happened.  One day I was listening to the album.  And I listened to it again.  And again.  And I kept listening to it over and over for several days.  Then I realized it.  Arise is the best album Sepultura ever released.  It is the perfect blend of their earlier extreme thrash and their later more groove-oriented style. 

In addition, this album features some of the greatest songs Sepultura ever recorded, and several of them were favorites of mine from long before I picked up the album.  "Dead Embryonic Cells", the title track and "Desperate Cry" are all incredible songs that are equal parts brutally intense and completely infectious.  There is truly not a weak song on the entire album.  It closes with another classic in "Infected Voice".

I do not know why it took me so long to truly appreciate this album.  I was once a huge Sepultura fan, and yet, somehow their best album eluded me for so long.  Not anymore though.  I have a new appreciation for this album.