PIRANHA are a Thrash/Death Metal band from Athens, Greece. They were formed in 1987 and started at the time as Speed Metal band. They released a few demos and 1 EP during the early ninetieths and eventually their debut full-length album "Reborn" in 1998. PIRANHA were active until 2001 and restarted in 2017. "Arise From The Shadows" - somehow fitting to the band's history - was released via 7Hard, a German record label. It has a total length of approximately 38 minutes.

PIRANHA start their album with a nuclear explosion. That worked well 30 years ago and it still works. It is followed by a combination of traditional Thrash and Speed Metal in the opener "Nuclear Disease": highly-paced guitar riffs, hammering drums, sharp and melodic guitar solos. The growling vocals do not really fit to that sound and offer little variation throughout the entire album. "Eternal Night" and "Endless Dream" continue with this fast paced guitar riffing. Highlights here are the melodic and comprehensive guitar solos.

During the middle part of the album, PIRANHA slow it down in "Reborn". Vocalist John gets support by female vocals (I assume it is Nadja W. although not credited for) during the second half of "Reborn". The angelic voice of the female singer introduces a few epic and gothic elements and changes the character of the song. "Reborn" is with almost 6 minutes the longest song of the album. "Rotten Mind" raises tempo again with a rather uncharacteristic break in between where the female singer has her gothic style vocal part again.

"Dead Boat" is kept mid-tempo, it has melodic and catchy guitar riffs, notably more double-bass drums, and epic choruses. The title song starts with an intro of Nadja W. on vocals, followed by a slow build up to the song with heavy guitar riffs. The song enters then a faster part with catchy riffs and harmonic choruses including background vocals. Towards the end of the song there are changes in rhythm and the fast parts contain atmospheric Death Metal elements including blast beats. "Haze" is another fast-paced Speed/Thrash Metal song similar to the songs at the beginning of the album including great melodic lead guitars and Nadja W. contributing to the choruses alongside vocalist John.

"Arise From The Shadows" is a solid album. The sound contains a number of sound elements ranging from old school Speed and Thrash Metal, mixed with Death Metal, Epic, Atmospheric and Gothic Metal. The addition of female vocals make the sound more interesting and comprehensive. On the other hand, the male vocals on "Arise From The Shadows" lack a bit variation and charisma. Some style elements, such as the fading out at the end of songs was, especially in the second half of the album, repetitive and definitely not my cup of tea. The production of the album is okay, I would have liked to hear more drums. To date, there is no official video release from the album available, so watch out for future releases. With that album, PIRANHA are back in business and fans of a mix of Speed, Thrash, Death Metal enriched with other styles will surely enjoy the new material.