Sepultura....tale of two bands

well I love music...if you know me then you knew that. Anyway, I picked up this album by Sepultura called Arise, it was their 3rd or 4th release (depending if you count an E.P) and let me tell you I was blown away! I am from the old school of metal. You know Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Testament...etc. I knew of Sepultura, but had never listened to them.
So back to the album...this album starts off with probably my favorite Sepultura song (well definately top 3) Arise. This thing is chop full of classic Bay Area Thrash riffs and solos. When you listen to this album you feel like it is 1986 all over again. This album was made in 1991, so the production is top notch. So what does the album sound like? Well you already know about the riffs and drumming (Metallica circa RTL/MOP era) as for the vocals they are a little rougher than Metallica vocals, but not the 'cookie monster' vocals you hear in some metal bands. If I had to give another example, think Testament era The Gathering or Low...rough but you can understand them.

As for the songs themselves, well you already know how I feel about the title track Arise, the rest are classic metal songs. For me they don't get back to the level of Arise, but Sepultura always has some of their stronger songs in the very beginning of the album. Other highlights include Murder (the solo is pretty amazing), Altered State has an awesome head banging riff, and plenty of others.

Bottom line, if you are from that classic era of heavy metal this album is for you. This is like a missing piece for those 1986 albums (Master of Puppets, Peace Sells..., Among the Living, Reign in Blood) it's that good.

Now for those who wonder about the title of my thread. This was Sepultura's second to last thrash release. After Chaos A.D., they went into a whole different direction. I will take some time and look at those albums and beyond later.