Sepultura
Roots

THE REVIEW

The Sepultura, always devoted to a powerful and aggressive thrash-death metal, in 1996 encounter the beauty of the tribal sound and skillfully insert a crossover of sounds ranging from already tested thrash style to tribal rhythms, passing through the syncopated rhythms of the emerging nu-metal movement by Korn and Deftones. What emerges is the absolute masterpiece of the Belo Horizonte group, constituting its "apogee" as well, because after the worldwide success due to the sales of "Roots," the members will oust frontman Max Cavalera, the mind and arm of the band, replacing him with the less talented Dereck Green.

The album begins with the Seps classic "Roots Bloody Roots," which truly is a piece of metal history in general, without taking anything away from songs like "Troops Of Doom" or "Arise." I think this song is the one that most represents the Brazilian group: an aggressive voice always set on a mid-growl and bone-crushing riffs, plus the right tribal touch that will also characterize (and especially) Cavalera's new group, the excellent Soulfly. Another classic (and masterpiece) is "Attitude," introduced by a great tribal rhythm and then filtered into the syncopated movement of Igor Cavalera's drums and Max's vomitous (and beautiful) voice. At times the rhythm changes and becomes more pressing, truly an excellent example of crossover between metal and tribalism. This album is full of classics, another one being the thrash metal "Cut-Throat," closer to previous works. Another standout song of the album is the following "Ratamahatta," featuring important collaboration with David Silveria, Korn's drummer, and the duet between Max and fellow countryman Carlinos Brown, marking it as the first song sung in Portuguese.

Still in the realm of classics and excellent episodes of this remarkable album is the phenomenal "Spit," featuring accelerated rhythm and great riff, an even more aggressive voice than usual and a thrashy imprint. Packed with guests is "Lookaway," written by Jhonatan Davis (Korn's vocalist), featuring contributions from Mike Patton (Faith No More) and Dj Lethal (ex-House Of Pain, Limp Bizkit). Musically, it's a murky nu-metal immersed in dark attitude (the same style used by Davis in the "Queen Of The Damned" soundtrack). Davis delivers an excellent performance, but Max always dominates the guests, and Dj Lethal's work is (surprisingly) well done and fits the song's structure perfectly, making it one of the best pieces on the album. Well-executed thrash are "Dusted" and "Born Stubborn," while "Jasco" is an emotional moment of pause and relaxation, a melodic instrumental dominated by acoustic guitars (parallel to what would later be the "Soulfly" in Cavalera’s new band's subsequent works).

Perhaps the best riff of the entire album, and also the least known, is "Itsari," an excellent thrash metal song that is a true pleasure to listen to until the end. The bizarre closing is delegated to "Dictatorshit," a piece a little over a minute long that consists of a blisteringly fast thrash-death metal song, which, although brief, proves to be good. A particular praise for the production, truly good, after all, Ross Robinson is at the helm, having previously worked with Korn’s debut and later with albums by Slipknot, Soulfly, Machine Head ("The Burning Red"), Limp Bizkit, etc. In conclusion, it is the album that officially establishes the band as crucial for thrash, death, nu, and metal in general, "Roots" grips the listener from the first to the last killer riff, containing everything one would expect from a masterpiece, from a classic, that is, faithfulness to tradition (many are the thrash-death songs) and much innovation (tribal and nu-metal influences).

The only flaw of this album is that it is the last of Sepultura with Max in the lineup; without him, they will never create another album so ingenious and beautiful!