E minor · Camelot 9A · 123 BPM
Roots Bloody Roots
by Sepultura
- 123
- BPM
- E minor
- Key
- 9A
- Camelot
- 43
- Danceability
- 0
- Acousticness
The music video for "Roots Bloody Roots" won Kerrang's Video of the Year Award in 1996 and picked up a nomination for MTV Brazil's Best Rock Video Award. Directed by Thomas Mignone, it was filmed in the catacombs underneath the city of Salvador, where Brazilian slaves had been sold. The clip set itself apart from other heavy metal imagery by drawing on the natural beauty of Brazil, featuring the traditional capoeira fight, Timbalada percussionists, Afro-Brazilian people and references to the religion of Candomblé, alongside scenes of Catholic churches. It later appeared on the VHS We Are What We Are, which was released on DVD as part of Chaos DVD.
The song came out in February 1996 as the lead single from Roots, the sixth studio album by the Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura. The single was issued on two CDs and 7" vinyl. The first CD arrived in a card foldout digipak, with early copies embossed with a stamp of the band's thorned 'S' logo, while the second came in a standard slimline jewel case. The vinyl was strictly limited and pressed in red.
"Roots Bloody Roots" became Sepultura's best-known song and a concert staple, typically performed on encores. Live versions appear on Under a Pale Grey Sky and Live in São Paulo, and another recording features on the limited-edition digipak of the band's 2001 album Nation. Former frontman Max Cavalera also played it live many times with Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy, releasing recordings of those versions on albums including Soulfly, Prophecy and Conquer.
Roots Bloody Roots runs at 123 BPM, the tempo of house, disco and most club dance music. In classical terms it sits in allegro territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.95 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 488 ms. It is in E minor, Camelot 9A, which shares its notes with G major and mixes cleanly with A minor and B minor.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.