The Roots of Sepultura (Photos)

"Roots" is the 6th studio album by Brazilian thrash metal band, Sepultura. It was released in 1996 on Roadrunner Records and produced by the band with Ross Robinson. The line-up for the album was Max Cavalera (vocals/guitar), Andreas Kisser (guitar), Paulo Jr. (bass) and Igor Cavalera (drums).

Introduction

This album was the turning point for Sepultura, Brazil's premier thrash metal band. It was the last to feature founding member and front man, Max Cavalera, and most would agree that the band never recover from this. Andreas and Paulo had fired the band's manager, Gloria Bujnowski, who was (and still is) Max's wife, and he felt he had no choice but to quit the band he founded. What you get with "Roots" is more experimentation of Brazilian tribal music and guest appearances from members of Faith No More, Korn and Limp Bizkit.

Roots Bloody Roots

The album starts with a song about protecting the tribes of Brazil from corporate money men who don't care what happens to them and their way of life, just as long as they can make more cash by destroying their villages and livelihoods. Sepultura is saying that we should respect people's roots and if some tribes want to be shut off from the rest of the world, then let them be. Musically, while it's not the heaviest track the band has ever put out, it's still got that classic Sep sound that any fan of the music will love. Max's shouty vocals are venomous throughout and though the guitars are down tuned during the majority of the song, they do still get as loud as anything you will hear. What is most noticeable, however, is Igor's drumming which isn't as frantic as it has been on previous albums.

Attitude

This is a song that was heavily inspired by Max's stepson, Dana Wells. Dana was killed in a car crash shortly after the album was released and Max never really got over that. The song begins with the sound of a berimbau, which is a Brazilian instrument that sounds a little like a sitar. There's a little bit of confused noise before the meat of the track comes into play but when it does it's done with intensely heavy guitars, and I like that a lot. The song is a perfect combination of thrash guitars and pounding drums which aren't done in the thrash metal style Igor is hitting the skins with some force.

Cut-Throat

This is a song which is a bit more like the band Max formed after leaving Sepultura, Soulfly. It's a groove-laden track which doesn't take its beginnings from thrash, though there are plenty of heavy signature notes in there. Musically there are some decent parts, especially in Igor's drumming which seems to be at the forefront of the production, leaving the guitars, bass and vocals in the background for the majority of its duration. There are a lot of crash cymbals and a couple of drum rolls here and there, but it's the guitars most people want to hear, and they could be considered too quiet.

Ratamahatta

The song comes in with an intro from the Brazilian Xavante tribe - chants and a tribal vibe make up the mainstay of this - and when the percussion kicks in (played by Korn's David Silveria) it all becomes magical and it is clear that these tribes have good musical taste. The guitars work on this song, and the main riff stand out, especially when Max is joined on the vocals by traditional Samba musician, Carlinhos Brown. This song is powerful for its portrayal of authentic Brazilian music, and it's powerful in the genre of thrash metal.

Breed Apart

This song has a great percussion introduction which encapsulates the essence of traditional Brazilian music and is helped along by straight-forward guitar strum. Igor's drum fills are especially good here, but the lyrics don't really say much. If it wasn't for the drum harmony on the song, it wouldn't have any real structure to it – almost like it's lost its way and doesn't know which path to follow.

Straighthate

This sounds like a continuation of the previous jumbled up track for the first minute before it finds its feet and gets going for another 10 seconds or so until it drones on with a sludgy, boring riff. It's plain to see what Sepultura is doing here; they're trying to make this song their "Leper Messiah" - Metallica's feel-good song off their brilliant "Master of Puppets" album - but what they've actually achieved is something that just doesn't work at all. The lyrics deal with a man who has anger issues and how the rage can continue to boil until he finally snaps and someone, anyone, gets the full force of his rage.

Spit

Distortion is the key word here, and lots of it. The production of the sound will leave you mystified and Max's vocals are barely audible at the best of times, but that's probably down to the influence Ross Robinson had on the band, as his previous work had been with Limp Bizkit, Korn and Slipknot, all who like to use different angles in recording techniques.

Lookaway

Here is a song which features Jonathan Davis of Korn and Faith No More's Mike Patton on vocals. It gets off to a slow start before the turntable scratching from Davis' band mate DJ Lethal begins. Many will agree that this doesn't belong on a Sepultura record, and then you have the Patton/Davis duet which is basic and dull, and even Max can't save it whenever he chimes in.

Dusted

The song starts out pretty decent with a good and heavy guitar riff and some nice drum fills from Igor but then comes that awful production sound again and that disgustingly reverberated tinny sound of the steel drum, made infamous years later by Metallica's Lars Ulrich on their 2003 offering, "St. Anger".

Born Stubborn

Now here's a song with guts! It doesn't get off to the best of starts with a monotonous guitar sound but the first riff is a killer and one of the best Sepultura has produced. The song has a good pace to it and is reminiscent of earlier Sep - something which a lot of songs on this album fail to do. This is a song about the roots of Sepultura and how they're too stubborn to change.

Jasco

Here we get an acoustic instrumental song on which the guitar work really shines and stands out. Andreas Kisser is a very talented musician and something like this is a joy to listen to, even though it does seem a little out of place on an album that is, so far, more miss than hit. Still, it's a telling piece that could be played to someone who likes any genre of music so that it can be said that metal musicians really can play - they just need to be heard in a different light to appreciate it.

Itsári

This is another sort of instrumental and bizarrely, two together which is unheard of on a lot of metal records - or if it has happened before, I've never heard of it. About the only thing on the record which doesn't completely make it a full instrumental is the Xavante tribe's chanting over a backdrop of acoustic guitars and percussion, and the song is a lot like "Kaiowas" from their 1993 album, "Chaos A.D.".

Ambush

Igor's drums are angry on this song and timely too, but again the production is terrible and Max's once venomous vocals just sound a little too distorted now. There's a little bit of hardcore metal on the gang vocals for the chorus thrown in for good measure and the bridge is strangely calm. Just when you want the band to push the pedal down, Sepultura takes the foot completely off for a bit, until the last few sections where it's distortion all the way.

Endangered Species

This song is too little, too late, and Sepultura may have wished they had listened to what they've created and thrown some of it away and possibly even put this song in the middle. This is infused with a little groove metal and some of Sep's early days - their 'roots' if you like - and we even get a guitar solo. There is some great drumming from Igor and this song pushes the early three or four to be the best on the album but doesn't quite make it.

Dictator****

This song is only 86 seconds in length but it's massively frantic from start to beginning, and on it you finally get some classic thrash drumming, thrash guitars and thrash vocals. It's a pretty good end to the album, but has Sepultura needed it.

Summary

This is not Sepultura at their best and if those early songs had been on "Chaos A.D." it would have been an even better album than what it was. But as it is, they're on this one and they've been let down by some songs which I can guarantee would be left on the cutting room floor by a lot of thrash metal bands.

Track Listing