Arise - The Beautiful New World
Spinefarm Records - 2005
By Adam McAuley
Arise play fairly standard melo-death, with a good degree of catchiness and hooks. I've had a bit of previous exposure to the band via their previous album The Godly Work of Art and from what I can remember that album was slightly superior to this one mainly because of a more acidic, aggressive tone that has here been sacrificed for a poppier one. For the most part, this is a bad thing because the album comes across too toned down and boring.
"Profit from the Weak", the third track, is one of the stronger ones on here, with its nice staccato riffing. Generally, the songs just drift on though, with not quite enough diversity or punch to quite catch your attention and make you keep listening. Furthermore, vocalist Erik Ljungqvist sounds like a mediocre version of Anders Friden of In Flames, a vocalist that wasn't even great to begin with. Again, had further complexity been added to the mix, the album could be a lot more exciting than it is, but as it stands, it is a half decent endeavour. I'm not really big on melo-death these days unless it can do something captivatingly innovative and Arise don't, so they seem to fall squarely into the "no reason to really listen to it" pile of metal.
Overall, I think that if Arise tried something drastically different than what they're doing on this album, there might be a reason to listen to them in the future, but for now they seem to be degenerating into one of those lame melo-death acts that don't deserve your attention. I suppose this could get a mild recommendation for people that enjoyed Clayman-era In Flames, but for those looking for something interesting, it would be best to look elsewhere.
6/10
Official Spinefarm Website
Official Arise Website
Spinefarm Records - 2005
By Adam McAuley
Arise play fairly standard melo-death, with a good degree of catchiness and hooks. I've had a bit of previous exposure to the band via their previous album The Godly Work of Art and from what I can remember that album was slightly superior to this one mainly because of a more acidic, aggressive tone that has here been sacrificed for a poppier one. For the most part, this is a bad thing because the album comes across too toned down and boring.
"Profit from the Weak", the third track, is one of the stronger ones on here, with its nice staccato riffing. Generally, the songs just drift on though, with not quite enough diversity or punch to quite catch your attention and make you keep listening. Furthermore, vocalist Erik Ljungqvist sounds like a mediocre version of Anders Friden of In Flames, a vocalist that wasn't even great to begin with. Again, had further complexity been added to the mix, the album could be a lot more exciting than it is, but as it stands, it is a half decent endeavour. I'm not really big on melo-death these days unless it can do something captivatingly innovative and Arise don't, so they seem to fall squarely into the "no reason to really listen to it" pile of metal.
Overall, I think that if Arise tried something drastically different than what they're doing on this album, there might be a reason to listen to them in the future, but for now they seem to be degenerating into one of those lame melo-death acts that don't deserve your attention. I suppose this could get a mild recommendation for people that enjoyed Clayman-era In Flames, but for those looking for something interesting, it would be best to look elsewhere.
6/10
Official Spinefarm Website
Official Arise Website
