Rise as God

In November 2013, S.M. Entertainment announced that TVXQ had recorded over twenty songs for their new album. The duo contemplated about releasing their new record in two parts.[4] On January 6, 2014, TVXQ released their special tenth-anniversary album Tense, which included 12 songs. In late 2014, rumors began circulating among fansites that TVXQ were planning to release a special mini-album in the summer of 2015, but those rumors were never materialized.

In April 2015, S.M. confirmed that U-Know Yunho would be enlisting in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces as part of the mandatory military service imposed on all South Korean men aged 18 to 35.[5] In July, S.M. announced that Max Changmin was accepted into a special unit for conscripted policemen, and will be enlisting at the end of the year.[6] Due to their mandatory draft, TVXQ announced that they would be on hiatus for the next two years. At the Tistory: Special Live Tour encore shows held on June 13 and 14, the duo said they have recorded some new material and would release it sometime during their hiatus.

Rise as God was announced on July 15, one week before its release date. According to S.M.'s press release, the title of the album is inspired by TVXQ's Hanja name Dong Bang Shin Ki (Hanja: 東方神起), which roughly translates to "rising gods of the east." Its two lead singles were announced to be "Rise as One", an EDM song sung by Changmin; and "Champagne", a pop dance track performed by Yunho. "Champagne" was first revealed at the Tistory encore concerts that were held a month earlier, when Yunho performed "Champagne" during his solo segment.[1] While "Rise as One" was described as a song that represented Yunho and Changmin's journey through the years, "Champagne" was described as a fun party song. Yunho chose "Champagne" as his last single before enlistment because he wanted to leave the fans with a happy note. Yunho was drafted as an active duty soldier on July 21, the day after the album's release.[7]

Due to the duo's unavailability, Rise as God received little promotion. Introducing it as a parting gift for fans, S.M. only used social media to promote the album. TVXQ's fans were alerted of the album's release on July 15, one week before its official release date. Online pre-orders were made available, and it topped South Korea's Synarra Record charts and Japan's Tower Records charts soon after pre-orders were announced. A sneak peek of the album's digital cover was released to Korean media agencies on July 15, followed by two black-and-white teaser photos featuring Yunho and Changmin the next day. The ten track set was revealed on July 16.

On the midnight of July 17, S.M.'s official YouTube channel released a teaser video of the album, which featured snippets of the singles' separate music videos. Individual teaser videos for "Rise as One" and "Champagne" were unveiled on July 18 and 19 respectively. The two music videos premiered in full on the evening of July 20, the day of the album's release. The physical copy of Rise as God was released by traditional mediums on July 21. It was made available in two versions–black or white–with two different photobooks that featured solo shots of the duo.

On the first day of sales in South Korea, Hanteo Album Charts, which tracks real-time sales from affiliated retailers, reported that Rise as God was behind Super Junior's Devil on the first day of release. It jumped to number one on the second day but dropped back to number two on the third day. It finished the week at number two and sold approximately 30,000 physical copies, making it TVXQ's slowest opening-week sales since their debut with Tri-Angle in 2004.

On South Korea's weekly Gaon Album Chart, Rise as God debuted at number one, making it TVXQ's fourth consecutive number one since the chart's establishment in 2010. According to Gaon, 148,155 copies were shipped in the first month, outperforming Super Junior by 12,000 units.[8]

In Japan, Rise as God entered the weekly Oricon Albums Chart at number six, with sales of 18,093 imported copies.

The album's two singles, "Champagne" and "Rise as One", failed to chart on South Korea's weekly digital charts. However, "Champagne" and "Rise as One" topped China's Baidu King weekly charts upon its first week, taking first and second place, respectively. Other songs from the album, including Yunho's "Komplikated", Changmin's "Apology," and the duet "Top of the World," peaked in the top ten.[9]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Rise as God.[10]

• TVXQ albums discography