Review Summary: The roots of something strange
I previously said that “Shoots and Ladders” was the only folk/nu metal song, but I might have been wrong. In 1996, Sepultura, founders of the Brazilian thrash metal scene, tried to combine the then recently created nu metal sound with their country’s traditional music and history, and a little bit of their previous heavy, groovy thrash metal. The result is a strange experiment, one that might confuse you at first, and that doesn’t always work perfectly, but that you can’t ignore, and certainly will never forget.
“Roots” has 3 types of songs: the ones that combine nu and thrash metal, the ones influenced by Indigenous (Xavante, in that case) and Afro-Brazilian music, and a few odd ones out. Those categories can overlap, like in opener “Roots Bloody Roots”. It begins with a fast, sort of thrash, sort of groove metal riff, alternates between pounding drums and catchy percussions. Its lyrics, delivered in Max Cavalera’s barking growl and occasional shrieks that sound a lot like Corey Taylor, are mostly about Brazil’s diverse cultural roots and how they should be preserved, not abandoned to assimilate into Western society.
That’s a recurring theme of the album, sometimes explicitly like in the thrash monster “Endangered Species” and sometimes as subtext. “Attitude”, “Straighthate” and “Cut-Throat” have more generic angry lyrics, but they could be read as a response to social injustices. “Cut-Throat” also has a great, fast and angry thrash riff. Other parts of the song are faster, more thrash-influenced, but the fusion of nu and thrash metal mostly works. Meanwhile, “Attitude” has an enjoyably heavy and dark groove metal sound, with an eerie, echo-y intro played on a berimbau.
But the best fusion of genres, the strangest and most memorable track would be “Ratamahatta”. It begins with traditional chanting and percussions, before bringing in an adrenaline-raising riff that’s fast like a thrash metal riff, but down-tuned like a nu metal riff. Then it’s a sort of duet between Max and the percussionist and singer Carlinhos Brown, where they both repeat lists of words related to Brazilian culture, some related to poverty (“favela, garagem, biboca” and some to horror movie characters and mythologized historical figures (Zé do Caixão, Zubi, Lampião), until the song starts going super-fast and repeating « Hello downtown, hello midtown » and screaming the title as a sort of vaguely threatening onomatopoeia. The song is not easy to describe or understand. It’s about cultural roots, in all their messiness. But no matter how you interpret it, you’re not the same after hearing it. To me, this is the spirit of “Roots” in a nutshell, the best songs in the album, the best song from this era of Max Cavalera’s career.
Then what else is there? The other obvious fusion track would be “Itsári” where the Xavante choir chants and plays a few percussions while Sepultura play an oddly eerie acoustic guitar. “Jasco” is the odd one out, a simple but also kind of eerie acoustic guitar leading to “Itsári”. The rest of the album consists of heavier songs with occasional flourishes of folk music. Sometimes you wish there would be more folk elements, so the album would be less repetitive, but there are many interesting moments.
“Ambush” does feel like a predator ambushing you in the Amazonian jungle, with its heavy, threatening and fast riffs, and great percussions in the middle. “Straighthate” experiments with its groovy, heavy riffs for a while before bringing in the loud and raspy vocals, where Max screams about how much he doesn’t fit in, before he completely loses it and starts screaming “Straight hate!”.
There are some other fast songs, like the deliriously angry riffs and screams of “Born Stubborn”, combined with equally furious Xavante chanting. Or “Dusted” and its furious drums and wildly energized nu metal riffs and bass lines, which are enjoyable even though the song sounds a little too much like other parts of the album, and like other nu or groove metal songs. “Breed Apart” has some really energetic percussions, while the rest of the song feels very Korn-like, with low whispers, weird screams and a repetitive screamed chorus. But “Lookaway” actually features a wonderfully weird vocal performance from Jonathan Davis and Mike Patton, as well as some frantic record scratching from DJ Lethal, contrasted with the deep and dark riffs.
However, the fastest songs are the more hardcore punk-inspired ones, like the short, fast and angry “Spit”. It has a nice bass line and gets your adrenaline pumping. My favorite punk/thrash song would be “Dictator***”, a simple and blistering denunciation of all dictators everywhere (“Why did they disappear? Dictator***!”). Depending on what version of the record you own, it’s a pretty impressive ending to a really unique album.
There are so many things to say about “Roots”, not just all its cultural references but also what I think about it. This album is a lot of things at once. It combines many different things, and the result often feels confused, weirdly stitched together. Then, does it fail or succeed as a folk/nu/thrash metal album?. Sometimes it perfectly integrates the folk elements to its songs, sometimes it doesn’t seem to know what to do with its folk elements, or doesn’t use them to their fullest potential. But it was an experiment that needed to be done, because it showed that metal could take its inspiration beyond European cultures. In a way, Roots opened the door for folk metal bands that can combine genres more smoothly. It’s also a good combination of nu and thrash metal, with its angst and down-tuned, eerie riffs, but also the speed, energy and rage of thrash metal, and none of the obnoxious clichés that a lot of older bands fall into when they try to make nu metal even when they clearly don’t get that subgenre. It has the darkness and intensity that Sepultura has always had. So please, expand your musical taste, listen to this unique album, and I’ll find you next year for some other reviews.
