Sepultura - Roots

If Sepultura's album Chaos A.D. established the band as more than just another death metal outfit, Roots expands both its search for identity and its quest for sheer aural destruction. Frontman Max Cavalera explores his past in "Roots, Bloody Roots" and "Endangered Species," and plays with a remote Brazilian tribe on "Rattamahatta". Elsewhere, Sepultura experiments with minor-key dynamics and atonal harmonics, imbuing their wall of noise with an oppressive sense of mystery. They also extend their musical horizons, adding clattering tin drums and what sounds like a jew's-harp to "Breed Apart," and garnishing "Lookaway" with DJ scratching, half-speed vocals, and a gothic, chiming mid-section. --Jon Wiederhorn