Roots

On Chaos A.D. the band had slowed down and taken in Latin rhythm; this record drives that much further. The starting point was the film At Play in the Fields of the Lord. Watching the scene in which Tom Berenger's character parachutes into an Amazonian village, Max Cavalera decided he wanted to record with indigenous Brazilians. He persuaded Roadrunner to back it and contacted Angela Pappiani, then communications coordinator for Brazil's Indigenous Culture Centre. About a year after that first contact she arranged for the band, producer Ross Robinson and their manager Gloria Cavalera to travel to Mato Grosso and record with the Xavante. What is on "Itsári" is that recording. The ensemble percussion across the album was guided and arranged by the Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown, with the hand of the Salvador samba-reggae group Olodum underneath it. The record came out in Europe on 20 February 1996 and in the United States three weeks later, on 12 March. Max Cavalera left the band after European dates later that year. The running order here is the original's as printed.