We Rise is the debut studio album by New Zealand metal band Devilskin. It was released in 2014 and debuted at #1 on the New Zealand charts and went platinum in 2015.[5][6]

We Rise
Studio album by
Released11 July 2014[1]
StudioYork Street Recording Studios, New Zealand
Genre
Length48:14[1]
Label
  • Devilskin Ltd[1]
  • Rodeostar (outside of New Zealand)
ProducerClint Murphy[4]
Devilskin chronology
We Rise
(2014)
Live at the Powerstation
(2014)
Singles from We Rise
  1. "Little Pills"
    Released: 10 March 2012
  2. "Never See The Light"
    Released: 1 March 2013
  3. "Start a Revolution"
    Released: 3 May 2014
  4. "Fade"
    Released: 9 November 2014

Background

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The songs on the album were written by the band over a period of several years. Before the recordings, the band spent some time with producer Clint Murphy. Recording for the album took place over three weeks at the York St Studios in Auckland, New Zealand. Further recordings took place at the Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, where, Queen recorded their album A Night at the Opera.

The first single of the album, Little Pills is about vocalist Jennie Skulander's own experiences. After the end of a love affair, she also lost her job. She moved to New Zealand and took antidepressants. After she started taking these "little pills", she suddenly felt unhappy.[7]

Never See the Light was also written by Skulander and was dedicated to her friend Shoki Kamishima, who died in 2010. Kamishima was able to mimic the sounds of dolphins during his lifetime and was frightened by people in pubs with this art. A recording of this can be heard at the beginning of the song.[7]

Violation, written by Skulander, is about a turn of events that occurred to her, including a burglary that occurred in her apartment. Although the perpetrators were arrested, they were not convicted. Skulander criticized in the song the New Zealand judiciary, which imposed in her opinion inadequate punishments.[7]

Release

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In 2012, the bands YouTube page published the first single "Little Pills". The song gained popularity for the band and in 2013, they released "Never See the Light" as their second single, followed by "Start a Revolution" as their third single. In 2014, We Rise was released on CD, Vinyl, and on digital music stores, such as iTunes and Google Play.

The album was released worldwide through German record label Rodeostar.

Reception

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We Rise debuted at #1 on the New Zealand music charts[8] and gained very positive reviews.[9][10][11]

Marcel Rudoletzky from the German magazine Metal Hammer described the music of Devilskin as "powerful, modern rock and metal mixture", which "does not need to hide behind other sizes". He emphasized the "strong and varied songwriting" of the band and called We Rise a "damn good first work".[12]

The album received platinum certification in 2015, after selling more than 15,000 units in New Zealand.[13] The single "Start a Revolution" reached 28th place in the NZ singles chart, making it the highest-charting single on the album.

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Devilskin, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Elvis Presley Circle Pit" 4:09
2."Little Pills"Paul Martin, Jennie Skulander, Tony Vincent, Richard McWhannell3:18
3."Vessel" 3:28
4."Start a Revolution"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, N. Martin, Don Gilmore, Aimee E. Allen3:24
5."Never See the Light" 4:33
6."Until You Bleed"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, McWhannell3:09
7."Fade"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, McWhannell3:41
8."Surrender" 3:10
9."Burning Tree" 3:46
10."The Horror" 1:06
11."Violation" 3:18
12."Covet" 1:25
13."Cherophobia (The Failure In Me)" 4:29
14."Dirt"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, McWhannell5:20
Total length:48:14
Digital edition[1]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Elvis Presley Circle Pit" 4:09
2."Little Pills"Paul Martin, Jennie Skulander, Tony Vincent, Richard McWhannell3:18
3."Chainsaw" 0:08
4."Vessel" 3:19
5."Start a Revolution"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, N. Martin, Don Gilmore, Aimee E. Allen3:24
6."Never See the Light" 4:33
7."Until You Bleed"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, McWhannell3:09
8."Fade"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, McWhannell3:41
9."Surrender" 3:10
10."Burning Tree" 3:46
11."The Horror" 1:06
12."Violation" 3:18
13."Covet" 1:25
14."Cherophobia (The Failure In Me)" 4:29
15."Dirt"P. Martin, Skulander, Vincent, McWhannell5:20
Total length:48:13

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Year Chart Peak Position
2014 Official New Zealand Top 40 Albums 1

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[14] Platinum 15,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles

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Year Title Peak chart positions
NZ
2012 "Little Pills"
2013 "Never See The Light"
2014 "Start a Revolution" 28
"Fade"

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e ""Devilskin on Apple Music"". Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  2. ^ ""Devilskin score big on Be Like The River"". Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  3. ^ ""Devilskin starting a revolution"". Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Clint Murphy – 'We Rise' (Devilskin)". Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Devilskin Having a Platinum Year | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  6. ^ Hung, Steffen. "charts.nz - Devilskin - We Rise". charts.nz. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  7. ^ a b c "Sonic Cathedral WebZine - Devilskin Interview". www.soniccathedral.com. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  8. ^ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". THE OFFICIAL NZ MUSIC CHART. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  9. ^ muzic.net.nz. "Devilskin - We Rise Album Review - New Zealand Music Articles". www.muzic.net.nz. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Review: Devilskin - 'We Rise'". devilsgatemedia.com. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  11. ^ "DEVILSKIN – WE RISE – CD REVIEW". All About The Rock. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  12. ^ "Hot New Band: Devilskin". Metal Hammer. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Devilskin having a platinum year". www.voxy.co.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  14. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Devilskin – We Rise". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 17 October 2021.

Works cited