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ARISE
Exquisite Rotten Feast

Self-released (2024)
Rating: 6/10

Keeping things relatively simple yet aggressive is El Salvador combo Arise, one of at least a dozen acts with that particular moniker. The band formed in 2021 and feature Edson Alvarado (guitar and vocals), Mauricio Cubias (bass and vocals), Ernesto Cruz (guitar) and Diego Flamenco (drums).

Exquisite Rotten Feast is a concise debut platter at 33 minutes, boasting nine tracks, one of which is a brief instrumental, ‘Insorsism’. What you get with Arise is something often fast and confrontational that sounds like a mix of Slayer, scowling death-thrash and volatile crossover thrash.

From opening song ‘New God’ there’s that rather generic speed and vocal snap which numerous bands over the last few decades have adopted. It’s all very fast and frantic and somewhat of a blur as the likes of ‘Just Fight’, ‘Special To Me’ and ‘La Gran Ramera’ melt into one serrated fury. The riffs are tight yet savage, matched by the hyper drums, but there are brief moments of respite and moshing melody as songs like ‘Serial Killer’ let you in to their chugging framework before spitting you out like discarded, bloody phlegm.

Arise have no identity and I don’t think they care. Instead, you get pummeled by ‘Outbreak’ which has a Teutonic snarl, especially in the vocal attack, while speed is key again as ‘The Whore Of Babylon’ fiercely wraps this whirlwind up. After a few listens I’m still waiting for this to stick, but it could take a while..

Neil Arnold

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