Roots

About

Roots is the sixth studio album by Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura. Roadrunner Records released it in Europe on February 20, 1996, and in the U.S. three weeks later March 12. It is the band's last studio album to feature founding member and vocalist and rhythm guitarist Max Cavalera. Following the shift to slower tempos and Latin-tinged rhythms on the album Chao, A.D. Roots delves even further into Brazilian musical textures and features significant contributions from Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown. Who guided and arranged the sections throughout the album that feature ensemble percussion playing. The song "Lookaway" also features guest appearances by Korn vocalist Jonathan Davi, former Korn drummer David Silveria, former Limp Bizkit turntablist DJ Lethal, and Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Tomahawk/Fantômas vocalist Mike Patton. The album draws influence from the then-surging nu-metal movement, specifically Korn (whose first two albums were also produced by Ross Robinson) and Deftone. (After leaving the band, Max Cavalera would continue to follow the nu-metal and "world" stylings of Roots with his solo project Soulfly.) Since its release, Roots has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Production and lyrics: Ross Robinson produced the album. Most of the themes presented on Roots are centred on Brazilian politics and culture. The film At Play in the Fields of the Lord inspired the idea for the album. The movie inspired Max Cavalera to travel to Mato Grosso, Brazil to visit the Xavante tribe. The album cover features an indigenous woman taken from a banknote of the discontinued Brazilian Cruzeiro, to which artist Michael Whelan added a locket with Sepultura's "tribal S" logo and a background of red root. The music on Roots reflects Brazil's history and culture. According to Max Cavalera, "Roots Bloody Roots" is "about believing in yourself, about being proud of your heritage, proud of where you come from, powerful but simple lyric. So it's about just being down with your own roots and believing in your root." "Cut-throat" is about Epic Record. "Ratamahatta" is "a celebration of life in Brazil's slum, sung all in Portuguese, which tells the stories of" people "like Ze Do Caixao (Coffin Joe) and Lampiao, the leader of an early 1900s outlaw gang from north Brazil, whose head was put on public display after he was captured." "Ambush" is "a tribute to murdered South American rain-forest activist Chico Mende." Musical style and influences: The inspiration for Roots's new musical direction was two-fold. One was the desire to further experiment with the music of Brazil, especially the percussive type played by Salvador, Bahia samba reggae group Olodum. Another innovation Roots brought was the inspiration taken from the sound of Korn - especially their debut, with its heavily down-tuned guitar. The music of Roots has sounds of world music, death metal, nu metal, thrash metal, tribal music, and Brazilian folk music. The band incorporated these elements into almost all songs in the album, and one of them ("Itsári") was recorded with members of the Xavante Indians at their ancestral home. Meeting the Xavante Indians meant a lot to Root. Igor says the band identified a lot with the natives: "In a certain way, I think that we, as a band, had many things in common with the Xavante Indian. We also lived on the edge of society, and our music and lifestyle is a long way from being assimilated and respected by that society." A representative of the tribe declared: "We had seen pictures of Roots and we knew that they were different, with their long hair and many tattoo. We also knew that they had been discriminated, as if we were. Because of that, we were curious about them." Some songs also include participation ("Ratamahatta", "Dictatorshit" and "Endangered Species") and co-writing ("Ratamahatta") from Carlinhos Brown, a popular Brazilian musician. The political theme and influence of hardcore punk on the album are further reflected in the topic of "Dictatorshit", namely the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. The lyrics to "Attitude" were co-written by Dana Well, Max Cavalera's stepson, whose death (in part) led to the events which caused Max to leave the band. Dana also came up with the concept for the video for the song, featuring Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu experts the Gracie family. In 2008, speaking to Kerrang, Max Cavalera remembered: "Roots came from a blurry dream I had about going to the rainforest. Wine may have been involved. In the end, when we went into the forest to record, it was unbelievable. The whole album was a huge personal journey for me, and as a Brazilian, it felt as an incredible achievement. Everyone was inspired and Igor was at the top of his game. The percussion was crazy and we worked with so many great musician, in the end coming out with a 15-minute drum jam that someone likened to a crazy Brazilian Pink Floyd. When we took the album to Roadrunner, they loved it except for the title. They thought it would sound like a Bob Marley tribute album. We explained it to them, and thankfully they got it." The last words in the song "Cut-Throat" are "Enslavement, Pathetic, Ignorant, Corporations". This spells EPIC, the record company with which Sepultura had some trouble during their previous album, Chaos A.D. Critical reception: .

via Last.fm

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