Songfacts®:

• Explaining the title track of their fourth album Arise, Sepultura vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera told Holland edition Aardschok/Metal Hammer in April 1991: "From the musical point of view, this song sounds a lot like the Beneath The Remains album. It has the same speed as most of the songs, but it also shows some more hardcore influences. The lyrics of 'Arise' are really up-to-date, because it's about how people are ready to kill other people just because they believe in a different kind of God. I think that my voice sounds especially aggressive on this song, a lot like on our older albums." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  DeeTheWriter - Saint Petersburg, Russia Federation
• Speaking to Revolver in a 2023 interview, Max Cavalera named "Arise" as his most cherished Sepultura tune. "That's my favorite track, especially the main riff," he said. "I remember writing that and going, 'Oh, yeah, this is sick.'"
  
  The Sepultura frontman added Metallica's ...And Justice For All song, "Blackened" influenced it. "It's same kind of idea, but we made it thrashier and just more energetic."
  
  "It's like the prototype of a death-thrash song," Cavalera concluded about "Arise." It's perfect. There's nothing you can add to make it better. And if you take anything out of it, it ruins it. It's like it's perfect the way it is. So, I'm very proud of that one."
• The hook refers to an apocalyptic event that obliterates of all of mankind. Within that death and decay, something or someone shall arise.
  
  Obliteration of mankind
  Under a pale gray sky
  We shall arise
  
  Cavalera learned English by translating rock and metal lyrics, which had a profound impact on his own songwriting. "One record I translated that was very influential was U2's War," he told Loudwire. "I love Bono's lyrics - he's a great lyricist, especially in that old U2 era of October, War and Joshua Tree. The famous line from U2's "New Year's Day" was 'Under a blood red sky' and I took that – 'Under a pale gray sky we shall arise.' I love that you can borrow from other artists. People borrow my stuff all the time."
• Cavelera used "Under a pale grey sky" as the title of Sepultura's 2002 live album.