"Roots Bloody Roots" is a song by Brazilian heavy metal band

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash met ...

, released in February 1996 as the lead single from their sixth studio album ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

''. It is the band's best known song and remains a concert staple, usually being performed on

encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers at the conclusion of a show or concert, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford Universi ...

s. A music video was filmed for the song, which features the band performing in a

catacomb Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

as well as on the streets with a tribe of percussionists. This video can be found on the

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

''We Are What We Are'', which was later released on DVD as part of ''Chaos DVD''. The song also appears in live form on the band's live releases '' Under a Pale Grey Sky'' and '' Live in São Paulo''. Another live version appears on the limited edition digipak version of the band's 2000 album ''Nation''. Former Sepultura frontman

Max Cavalera Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera (; born 4 August 1969) is a Brazilian musician. He co-founded the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Sepultura in 1984 with his brother Igor Cavalera, and was the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist unti ...

has also played the song live numerous times with his other bands

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1997. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 1996. To date the band has release ...

and

Cavalera Conspiracy Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian-American heavy metal supergroup from Phoenix, Arizona, founded by Brazilian brothers Max (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Igor Cavalera (drums, percussion), who are widely known as former members of Sepultura, an ...

. Recordings of their version can be found on the limited edition versions of the albums ''Soulfly'' and ''Prophecy'' and as iTunes bonus track on ''Conquer'', as well as on the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

''The Song Remains Insane'', plus on the bonus DVDs of ''Omen'' and ''Archangel''.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Thomas Mignone Thomas Mignone is an American feature film, streaming media, commercial, and music video director, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing and writing the dark dramas '' On the Doll'' and ''Queen Of Manhattan'' and for directing concep ...

and won the Kerrang "Video of the Year Award" in 1996, as well as a nomination for the MTV Brazil "Best Rock Video" Award. Filming was done in the catacombs underneath the city of Salvador, where the Brazilian slaves were sold. The video is distinguished from other heavy metal imagery by its atypical use of the natural beauty of Brazil, including its traditional

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

fight, Timbalada percussionists, and

Afro-Brazilians Afro-Brazilians (; ), also known as Black Brazilians (), are Brazilians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most multiracial Brazilians also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Brazilians whose African features are mo ...

people, as well as the reference to the religion of

Candomblé Candomblé () is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West and Central Africa, especi ...

. The video also shows scenes of Catholic churches.

Releases

The single was released on two CDs and 7" vinyl. The first CD was presented in a card foldout

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

case, while the second was in a standard slimline jewel case. Early copies of the digipak version were embossed with a stamp of the band's thorned 'S' logo. The vinyl was a strictly limited edition and was red in colour.

Track listing

;Disc one (

) #"Roots Bloody Roots" #"Procreation (Of the Wicked)" (

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

cover) #" Refuse/Resist" (live) # "Territory" (live) ;Disc two #"Roots Bloody Roots" #"Procreation (Of the Wicked)" (Celtic Frost cover) #"Propaganda" (live) #"Beneath the Remains/Escape to the Void" (live) ;7" red vinyl # "Roots Bloody Roots" # " Symptom of the Universe" (

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

cover. It also appears on '' Blood-Rooted'' and the limited edition of ''

'') * ''Refuse/Resist, Territory, Propaganda, Beneath the Remains/Escape to the Void were recorded live in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in March 1994''

Personnel

Sepultura

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar * Andreas Kisser – lead guitar, backing vocals * Paulo Jr. – bass *

Igor Cavalera Igor Graziano Cavalera (born 4 September 1970) is a Brazilian musician, best known as the former drummer for the heavy metal band Sepultura, which he co-founded with his brother Max in 1984. Max left the band in 1997, and Igor himself would ...

– drums, percussion

Production

*Produced by Ross Robinson and Sepultura *Recorded and engineered by Ross Robinson *Mixed by Andy Wallace *Assistant engineer: Richard Kaplan

Charts

References

{{Authority control Sepultura songs Groove metal songs Thrash metal songs 1996 singles Songs written by Max Cavalera Songs written by Igor Cavalera Songs written by Andreas Kisser Songs written by Paulo Jr. 1996 songs Roadrunner Records singles