Canyon Jam

Sepultura recorded it in three weeks, using borrowed equipment and without playing a single note in the studio. The result was Roots, an album that dove headfirst into Brazilian rhythms and, years later, remains their most explored work outside metal circuits. Within that sonic journey lies Canyon Jam, a piece that sounds like none of the band’s others: it stretches for thirteen minutes and seventeen seconds, with layers of tribal percussion intertwining with distorted guitars and a bass that seems to drag the listener into a dead-end canyon. It’s not a song to be heard in passing; it’s an immersion.

The album was born in Belo Horizonte, where the band set up an improvised studio in a wooden house with high ceilings. For the percussion sections, they brought in Carlinhos Brown, a musician who had already revolutionized Brazilian sound with his drums and arrangements. He didn’t just contribute rhythms; he guided the musicians so the album would breathe like a living organism, with layers that overlap without ever losing the pulse. The mixing was handled by Andy Wallace, known for his work with extreme metal bands, and the engineering was a collective effort: Rob Agnello, Chuck Johnson, and Richard Kaplan recorded everything live, with no cuts or corrections. Canyon Jam isn’t a song; it’s a soundscape the listener traverses from the first chord to the last breath.