On February 20th, 1996, Brazilian groove thugs, SEPULTURA, released quite a landmark album, the shockwaves of which imprinted the budding nu-metal and groove-metal scenes at large. Even now, you cannot listen to the latter-day endeavors by either SEPULTURA itself or bands such as SOULFLY and ALIEN WEAPONRY without catching the echoes of this particular album resonating through the music. Emblematically entitled “Roots,” the band’s sixth album was released through Roadrunner Records, and it sold over two million copies worldwide, receiving praise even from the non-metal media for its bold mixture of punk, metal, and Brazilian folk grooves. The collaboration with the Xavante tribe and Afro-Brazilian percussionist Carlinhos Brown was not only unprecedented but also rather unorthodox in the metal scene at the time. I mean, despite the 1990s having been a somewhat open-minded music decade, to begin with, SEPULTURA still managed to create some major fuzz by infusing their abrasive metal riffs with Latin grooves. In this day and age, no one would bat an eye if you threw in samba rhythms in the middle of a metalcore breakdown, but in 1996, such metal conduct forced everyone to rethink what metal could possibly sound like. Sludgy, down-tuned guitar riffs paired with ethnic percussions have never sounded as fresh, I think; while some later endeavors in this particular field may have been more polished and thus more attractive to the mainstream, I reckon it was this raw, pioneering spirit exactly that made “Roots” what it is – a thrilling adventure.
The album kicks off with nothing short of a primal and confrontational punch in the face. “Roots Bloody Roots” has become something like a meme over the years: people who generally don’t even listen to metal are likely to know its iconic refrain. In fact, there was one Finnish mainstream comedy some 20 years ago or so, in which the refrain was turned into a clever pun, but, of course, I cannot recall the name of the film. (Drop a comment, if you do!) I was vaguely aware of SEPULTURA already at the time, thanks to my enlightened metalhead friends, but it was not until I heard this banger that I bothered to really listen to the band’s music properly.
As luck would have it, the tribal aspect that initially lured me in only intensifies in the following tracks, with the weird anomaly of a track, “Ratamahatta,” being the ultimate icing on the cake. The song was born out of the band’s venture deep into the Brazilian jungle to jam with the indigenous Xavante tribe. One of these jams later evolved into “Ratamahatta” in the studio with the help of Brazilian funk musician Carlinhos Brown. The Xavante tribe also featured in “Born Stubborn,” a punchy riffer that got a pass from even the most savage critics of the album. I reckon it was these wild forays into world music that helped SEPULTURA transcend the death/trash genre and become a timeless legend in their own right. I mean, how many of us old grits really remember the deeper cuts from this album? Just drop the album title in the middle of a conversation with some GenX metalheads, and they will immediately start rambling on about either “Ratamahatta” or “Roots Bloody Roots.” Technically speaking, the album has no skippable tracks, but its greatest and most unforgettable moments boil down to these two tracks. End of story.
Songs such as “Breed Apart” and “Itsári” further deliver some tribal breakdowns and Brazilian-style jams. Then, there are the occasional crust-punk flourishes (“Spit”) and straight-up sludge riffage (“Dusted”) – even an acoustic interlude (“Jasco”) courtesy of Andreas Kisser. Still, the album is mostly remembered and cherished by those two particular bangers. The only track that has not perhaps aged so well is the one they did with DJ Lethal, “Lookaway,” which featured additional vocal acrobatics by Jonathan Davis of KORN and Mike Patton of FAITH NO MORE. I liked it a lot back in the day, but I must admit that this album did come out when I was going through my most intense FNM fanboy phase. In retrospect, the wacky-and-spooky mannerisms of these two gentlemen do feel slightly out of place on this album. Now, I would rather have only Max Cavalera delivering his trademark barks on this song. Ironically, this breakthrough endeavor caused a rift between the Cavalera brothers for nearly a decade, so that “Roots” was the last SEPULTURA album to feature him. Long story short, whatever your verdict might have been 30 years ago, one thing was for certain: “Roots” was anything but a boring album!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Roots Bloody Roots
- Attitude
- Cut-Throat
- Ratamahatta
- Breed Apart
- Straighthate
- Spit
- Lookaway
- Dusted
- Born Stubborn
- Jasco
- Itsári
- Ambush
- Endangered Species
- Dictatorshit
- Canyon Jam (hidden track)
Lineup
Max Cavalera – vocals, guitars
Igor Cavalera – drums, percussion (such as djembe and rusted propane tank)
Paolo Jr. – bass
Andreas Kisser – guitars, backing & sitar on “Ambush”
Label
Roadrunner Records
