Among the throngs of very bad thrash metal that was being released in the late 1980s and after two good, but not completely satisfying albums, Sepultura began their conquest of the USA with Beneath the Remains. As young as the musicians were in 1989, their style is already very much in place. Drawing elements from classic thrash and heavy metal (most obviously Slayer and Metallica), the songs are little more than collections of chugging riffs with bellowed vocals and lead guitar solos and yet they work extremely well. The band knows when to take breaks from the speedier moments and almost always includes a slower break with melodic riffs and harmonized guitars ("Mass Hypnosis", "Sarcastic Existence"); while nothing new, Sepultura's breaks would greatly influence some of their thrash colleagues (Pestilence in particular).

Considering the relatively low budgets thrash in general and newbies Sepultura in particular had to deal with at the time, the sound quality is excellent, thanks to superstar thrash producer Scott Burns. The instruments are clearly separated, and except for a couple of dated vocal moments, Burns knows better than to use any of the cheap studio candy that plagues so many thrash albums of the time.

Only a small handful of straight thrash albums have remained as compelling as they were over ten years ago. This is one of them.

Review by Rog The Frog Billerey-Mosier

Review date: 09/2001

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After coming into their own with Beneath the Remains, Sepultura came back with a second helping of similar material, moving a little farther away from their early Metallica/Slayer influences to concentrate on their own brand of angry thrash/death metal.

The riffs are very much late-80s/early-90s thrash/death à la Slayer, and rarely do they exhibit the mind-numbing speed one eventually came to expect from bands in the genre. The band's musicianship is impressive and the performances are significantly better than those found on countless thrash albums of the time. The tempos don't waver, the drums come back on the "one" from double-bass blasts and complicated fills, and the guitar solos are a lot tighter and more melodic than Slayer's horrid lead breaks. Sepultura had not yet decided to incorporate Brazilian influences into their music, and in that sense Arise is not quite as distinctive as their later albums would be; on the other hand, the songs are well-written, compelling and more memorable than their more recent material.

This album came at the right time for a lot of harder-edge thrash fans who felt betrayed by Metallica's more mainstream explorations. Ten years later, it is still one of the best examples of what exciting 1990s thrash metal sounded like. Sepultura's back catalogue was recently reissued with bonus tracks on each CD, which adds to the fun. This is one of the two essential Sepultura albums, and should be owned by anyone interested in the genre.

Review by Rog The Frog Billerey-Mosier

Review date: 09/2001

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