"Live to Rise" is the first fully new composition and recording by Soundgarden since 1997. Although the band has released the song "Black Rain" on their 2010 greatest hits album, the song was partially recorded and written during the 1990s.
The song appears on the soundtrack for the 2012 blockbuster The Avengers (Avengers Assemble: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture). It is the only song Soundgarden released as a single for a film. The song plays in the credits for the film.