Amebix - Arise!

Track List:
1. The Moor 3:10
2. Axeman 3:33
3. Fear of God 3:13
4. Largactyl 3:47
5. Drink And Be Merry 6:08
6. Spoils of Victory 4:17
7. Arise! 5:23
8. Slave 3:55
9. The Darkest Hour 4:54
Total Playing Time 38:20

The re-released CD version from 2000 has two previously unreleased songs (demo)
from 1987:

10. Right to Ride (06:06)
11. Beyond the Sun (06:09)


Album Reviews:

Rated: 85%

Written by Terrakotta on November 9th, 2007

Arise! is krieg.

Riffs disengage like artillery fire as rhythmic gallops storm the battlefield. This is sonic warfare unleashed at a time when Hardcore climaxed and Speed Metal was on the rise.

Even in moments of irritation, Amebix still managed to shatter their conceptual targets. Lower ranked “Axeman” and “Largactyl” are exactly what they set out to be: numbers to induce neurosis in the listener. What is missing however is a more effective way in accomplishing the same mission as songwriting would have been better off featuring feelings of fear, doubt and paranoia as opposed to being solely annoying for its own sake. Of course, The Baron’s series of cockney slurs in speech certainly did not provide any assistance in that matter…

In retrospect, it is side B that really puts Arise! on the map. Punk ballads “Drink and be Merry” and “The Darkest Hour” bleeds romanticised portraits of nihilism while onslaughts in between shed hope in an otherwise inevitable end by actually offering solutions to the problems at hand in anarchical and revolutionary fashion. Inspiration draws heavily from Killers in the album’s peak, “Arise!”

Vivid poetry in both lyric and music here leaves a permanent mark on history despite its slight inconsistencies, concluding the chapter to Hardcore’s initial flourishing with a then promising future in Crustcore.


Rated: 90%

Written by Doomrock on February 15th, 2006

Amebix remains today a cult favorite, after a career of releasing mostly singles and EPs with a few memorable full lengths to boast as well. Practicing what they preached, Amebix lived like squatters, selling all but their instruments to survive and living in condemned buildings. Thankfully for us, we can still hear the band but not smell them.

An important inspiration on much more successful bands like Neurosis and Sepultura, Amebix's memorable Arise! album is still a work of art. The listener can be dared not to want to nod their head to songs like "Slave" and "Fear of God" or simmer in dirges like "Drink and Be Merry". Labelled more closely as a crust punk band than a metal band, the metal sound is definitely there and the heaviness was ahead of it's time.

The less-than-polished performance and production give the album a very authentic sound, and this album is more than highly reccomended to fans of the early development of metal. The DIY ethos is all the more evident on such an album, which sounds somewhat like Venom's Welcome to Hell, albeit with a more developed style. This album is still exciting over 20 years later, and everyone is invited to slum with the kings of hard living.


Download? - Click Here (Amebix - Arise!.zip)