Sepultura

Roots

good, but SO samey

Review Score:

(6/10)
but then again, this is supposed to be the album that opened the commercial floodgates for the type of diluted popmetal being played by Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.

on its own merit though, it's a good album.the typically raw Cavalera vocals do get repetitive, as the deathmetal style roar is so overused, and so much of this album is revolutionary- a shame the vocals are so backward. the mixture of brazilian tribal music, in short vocal/acoustic tracks and especially in the drums on such great songs as Ratamatta and Roots Bloody Roots, give a real idea of a musival inheritance being adhered to, so that the album has a sense of focus in what it is trying to achieve beyond the standard numetal "i hate the world, myself and my dog" approach. lots of adrenaline runs through the tracks, though Lookaway, a slower song with Korn's Jon Davis, is a highlight, with its gothic, creepy overtones.

the change of pace is important, because this and the segues of tribal music give us a break from the medium fast wall of downtuned riffage and screaming- sometimes you wish Max would sing so that his opinions, which i value having seen his interviews, would come across as more than angsty rants. ah well. this album isn't as masterful as some would have you believe, but its combining of metal with tribal elements is infinitely preferable to combining rap with metal. a bit less death, and a bit more thrash and this album might have been better- i like Metallica's albums as they give a good balance of styles. this album does not. but for fierce riffage, look no further.....

More Reviews: