Hermética

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Hermética

Background information
Origin San Martín, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Genres Thrash metal, heavy metal
Years active 1987–1994
Labels Radio Trípoli Discos
Associated acts V8, Almafuerte, Malón
Past members Ricardo Iorio
Antonio Romano
Claudio O'Connor
Claudio Strunz
Fabián Spataro
Antonio Scotto

Hermética was an Argentine thrash metal band from San Martín, Buenos Aires. It was formed by bassist Ricardo Iorio in 1987, after the disbandment of his previous band V8. Hermética was signed to the independent record label Radio Trípoli Discos throughout their entire career. The initial lineup of Hermética was consisted of Iorio, vocalist Claudio O'Connor, guitarist Antonio Romano and drummer Fabián Spataro. However, Spataro left the band in 1988, and was replaced by Antonio Scotto. This lineup recorded their eponymous long play, the first thrash metal album recorded in Argentina. At this point of their career, Hermética predominantly performed in front of their home crowd, except for one concert held in Uruguay. In 1990 they released Intérpretes, an extended play which featured covers of Argentine rock and tango songs, among others. Both albums were released by Radio Trípoli Discos as a single CD, when digital technology became available.

Scotto left the band and was replaced by drummer Claudio Strunz. This lineup recorded their second studio album, Ácido Argentino. Hermética opened for Black Sabbath and Motorhead during their visits to Argentina, but had to cancel their headlining tour in Paraguay. They recorded a live album, En vivo 1993 Argentina, and took part in a concert at a penal facility. They participated in the first Argentine Monsters of Rock festival, an edition which featured Black Sabbath, Slayer, and Kiss. Their last studio album, Víctimas del Vaciamiento, was released in 1994. To promote the album, the group held a concert at the stadium Obras Sanitarias later that year.

Hermética was disbanded at the end of 1994, a few days before their second concert in Obras. Ricardo Iorio, who performed lead vocals on a number of tracks, formed his new band Almafuerte, and took the vocal duties in his new band. The remaining band members hired a new bassist and created the band Malón. Both bands began a mutual rivalry after their respective establishment.

History

Early years and Hermética (1987-1989)

Ricardo Iorio was the frontman and bassist of the band V8, which broke up in 1987. After its disbandment, Iorio formed Hermética, whose musical style was similar to V8. Initially, he tried to work with Martín Knye, a former member of Kamikaze, but after a couple of meetings, the idea fell through. Then he appointed the guitar player Antonio Romano, from the band Cerbero, who had been previously considered for V8. Iorio wanted to be vocalist as well as bassist, but his manager Marcelo Tommy convinced him to hire someone else.[1] The he eventually chose Claudio O'Connor for vocals and drummer Fabián Spataro, from the band Mark. They began to practice at Villa Ballester in 1987. The name of the group is a reference to hermeticism, as Iorio saw similarities between the hermetic doctrine and the context of the Argentine heavy metal.[2]

The first songs composed by Iorio were "Sepulcro Civil", "Masa Anestesiada", and "Cráneo Candente". Their first show was in the pub "Helloween" in San Martín, on May 7, 1988. Although Horcas was established before Hermética by fellow member of V8, Osvaldo Civile, Hermética was the first one to make a live concert. Spataro left the band during that year, because of labour reasons. He was replaced by drummer Tony Scotto, introduced by friends of the band. He made his first concert with the band in August, at the "Sáenz Peña" club, the same place where Spataro played for the last time. The fanzine Zote organized a free concert at the main plaza of Lomas de Zamora, but it was cancelled because of the failed military uprising of the carapintadas.[3]

Hermética made regular appearances at the "Arlequines" theater in 1989, in San Telmo. They were the first heavy metal band to play there. They performed with bands such as Doppler, 666, Militia, Genocidio, Ultraje, Cross, Legión, and Devastación. The band wanted to record their first album, but the national economic crisis had negative impact on the project. The fanzine "Rebellion Rock" proposed an independent production, selling it at Parque Centenario, which was rejected by the band. They rejected to work for EMI as well and signed instead for a new label, Radio Trípoli Discos. The contract was signed in May, and the band began to record the LP at the Sonovisión studios two months later. The eponymous album Hermética was released in November 1989. It was the first thrash metal album recorded in Argentina. In the song "Desde el Oeste", Ricardo Iorio made his debut as lead vocalist. Hermética made a concert in Córdoba, with the band Hammer. Alberto Zamarbide, the former singer of V8, made a guest appearance during a concert in Mataderos to sing "Destrucción", a song of their old band. They ended the year with a couple of concerts with Pappo's new band, "Pappo & The Widowmakers".[4]

Intérpretes and Ácido Argentino (1990-1992)

Hermética made many concerts at Cemento.

The band had its only concert outside of Argentina in the early 1990s, at the "Club Platense" in Montevideo, Uruguay. They played with Retrosatán and Alvacast, two bands from Uruguay. Hermética had to spent the night in the street, because of the faulty Uruguayan production. Once they returned to Argentina, they made concerts at several locations in Buenos Aires and again in Mar del Plata with Divididos, Los Violadores, Arácnido and Rata Blanca. They got the chance to record an EP, with only 27 hours of recording time. They accepted the proposal, and recorded improvised cover songs of V8, Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, Enrique Santos Discépolo, Motörhead, and Manal. Iorio, as a fan of Budgie, made deliberate similarities to Metallica's cover EP, The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited, which included a cover version of a song by that band. The band ended the year in the festival "Metal en acción" at the José Amalfitani stadium, with 2112, Lethal, Horcas, Kamikaze, Alakran, and Riff.[5]

The band sought out a new place for concerts, as the Arlequines was becoming too small for the growing public. They moved to Cemento, and most of the 1991 concerts took place there. They played with the bands Todos tus muertos, Pobres pibes, Nepal, Militia, Devastación, Rapier, and Resistencia Nativa. Hermética and Intérpretes, which had been recorded as LP records and cassettes, were released by Tripoli in a single compact disc.[6] Tony Scotto left the band because of creative differences and was replaced by Claudio Strunz.[7] Strunz, drummer of the band Heinkel, was the owner of Hermética's rehearsal room, and had already played with the band during practices when Scotto was absent. He made his debut at Sunchales. The band appeared in two television programs, La movida del '90 and Siglo XX Cambalache. The band recorded the second long play, Ácido Argentino, with 150 hours of recording time at the Aguilar studios. It was presented in Cemento on December 27.[8]

There was an avalanche at San Carlos Minas on January 1992; Hermética joined a charity music festival held at the Chateau Carreras stadium. A concert with Riff ended with minor riots, as Riff was the headlining band, while Hermética played only a few songs. Hermética was the opening act of Black Sabbath at Obras Sanitarias; Black Sabbath's frontman Ronnie James Dio thanked the band for playing with them.[9] The band leased 25% of the copyright of their songs to Daniel Grinbank, the businessman that brought rock bands to Argentina, to play with Sabbath.[10] They were also the supporting band for Motörhead in Obras, in October. They were offered a concert in Paraguay, but once in the country, the producers tried to pay less money to the band than was agreed. Unable to find an alternative location, the band refused to play and returned to Argentina.[11]

Live albums and Víctimas del Vaciamiento (1993-1994)

The band was touring Patagonia in the beginning of 1993. In March that year, Ácido Argentino was certified gold by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers (CAPIF), having shipped 30,000 copies in Argentina.[12] Tripoli proposed them to produce the new studio album in Miami or Los Ángeles, but the band refused, preferring to stay in Argentina.[13] The band was scheduled to be the support band of Megadeth, but the health problems of their guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine forced to cancel the concert.[12] They received proposals to play with Metallica, but rejected them.[10] After touring in Rosario and the great Buenos Aires, they made their first concert in Buenos Aires on May 15 at Stadium, a new concert hall with a capacity of 5,000 people.[12] They recorded the live album En vivo 1993 Argentina and a home video. The album included a heavy metal cover version of "Si se calla el cantor" by folk singer José Larralde. This album ended the contract with Radio Trípoli, which was renewed. They made a concert at the Olmos penal facility on August 17, along with Lethal, A.N.I.M.A.L., Massacre, Attaque 77, Pilsen and the British UK Subs. Presented by the radio host Norberto Verea, the concert was recorded in a live CD named "Radio Olmos".[14] The band made another concert at "Stadium" on September 4, and began to produce their third studio album.[12]

Hermética was part of the 1994 edition of the Monsters of Rock festival in Buenos Aires, alongside Black Sabbath, Slayer, and Kiss.[15] Shortly after, they released their third studio album, Víctimas del Vaciamiento. As the Stadium's hall was not big enough to gather the entire audience, they held a concert at Estadio Obras Sanitarias. Hermética recorded their performance and released it as a live album entitled Lo último. Meanwhile, their newest studio album received gold certification. They made a new cover version of a folk song, "De los pagos del tiempo", also by Larralde.[16] The band had received proposals to play at Obras the previous year, but accepted to held the concert if they could organize it themselves.[13]

Disbandment

Almafuerte (above) and Malón (below)

Hermética's last concert was held in Mar del Plata. They scheduled a second concert in Obras, but it was subsequently cancelled. It was rumored that Iorio had hepatitis B, which turned out to be not true. The other members sent him a formal request to attend the concert; Iorio refused and the band broke up as a result. Iorio did not attend any meeting since then and ordered the other band members to avoid using the name Hermética, which was invented by him. Iorio gave his first comments to the Clarín newspaper and the other members to the Madhouse music magazine. Iorio said that the band had always been united, but few weeks prior to their final concert, they were not talking to each other. He explained that he lied about having hepatitis B expecting to end the hostilities, but it did not work as he expected. He returned from Mar del Plata to Buenos Aires by plane to avoid seeing the other members, who returned by bus. O'Connor, Romano, and Strunz stated in the Madhouse magazine that the harsh relation was because Iorio never consulted the others on the decisions he was making, that he received most of the money, and that he avoided meeting them when they were discussing the problems in the band.[17]

The concert in Obras was filmed and released as a live album. The first edition was released under the name Lo Último, with a black front-cover. This edition was additionally edited in studio, to match the quality of a regular studio CD. It was later reissued as a double album entitled "En Concierto". The album was not emended in the studio, and as a result, it reinstated the raw sound of the band's live performance.

Ricardo Iorio started a new band, Almafuerte, with guitarist Claudio Marciello and drummer Claudio Cardacci. Iorio took lead vocal duties and included cover songs of Hermética and V8 on his new band's repertoire.[18] O'Connor, Romano, and Strunz hired a new bassist, Karlos Cuadrado, and formed the band Malón.[17] Both bands had a severe rivalry. The popularity of Hermética was inherited by both bands; the 1995 poll among readers of Madhouse was led by members or works of both bands in all national categories.[19]

Hermética remained a popular band in the Argentine heavy metal scene, even among the younger fans who had never seen the band live. However, since their disbandment, the band has not attempted any reunion. At the 2011 reunion of Malón, Claudio O'Connor pointed that their personal conflicts with Iorio do not allow it, and that they would not reunite the band if the four members do not have a good personal relationship.[20]

Style and lyrics

Hermética was a thrash metal band, drawing influences from Motörhead, Megadeth, and Black Sabbath. Their music was composed primarily by bassist Ricardo Iorio, with occasional input from guitarist Antonio Romano, while Romano himself composed the guitar solos. The band used a counterpoint between the singing styles of their two vocalists; lead singer Claudio O'Connor's vocals were high pitched, while Iorio had a raucous style of singing. Iorio used to sing segments of some songs, but rarely did he performed songs in their entirety.[21] However, Iorio felt that his singing style in Hermética was inferior to his later work in Almafuerte, because the songs had not been composed specifically for him.[1] The success of their second studio album, Ácido Argentino, allowed the band to increase the budget for the production of its follow-up, Víctimas del Vaciamiento. Iorio proposed to re-record the first LP, with drummer Claudio Strunz and a higher budget, but the label refused his proposal.[22]

The musical style of Hermética was considered to be "old-fashioned" at the time. The band achieved success as a result of their introspective lyrics.[21] Unlike most other heavy metal bands, Hermética's music was more appealing to poor people. Ricardo Iorio, who served as the band's primary lyricist, wrote about his thoughts and concerns from a personal perspective.[23] Iorio stated that some of his lyrics were inspired by 1940s Argentine tango.[22] Hermética was part of the Rock chabón movement within the Argentine rock, influenced by Argentine nationalism, family values and neighbourhood-centered localism.[24] Iorio clarified that he does not support racism or fascism.[1] The lyrics, except for covers, are always written in Spanish language, as Iorio does not approve artists who write in English in order to gain foreign audience.[13] The first two albums addressed a variety of topics; for instance the song "Memoria de siglos" (Spanish: Memory of centuries) references cult of personality, buck passing, peace through strength and wage slavery. Each song from their third album was devoted to a different subject-matter.[22]

Members

Last line-up

Former members

  • Fabián Spataro - drums (1987-1988)
  • Antonio Scotto - drums (1988-1991)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

VHS

  • En Vivo 1993 (1993)

Compilation albums

  • Sentimiento Argentino (1998)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cráneo Candente. with César Fuentes Rodríguez. September 1995. pp. 10-11. Madhouse Nº 57.
  2. ↑ Blumetti, p. 2
  3. ↑ Blumetti, pp. 2-3
  4. ↑ Blumetti, pp. 3-4
  5. ↑ Blumetti, pp. 4-5
  6. ↑ La biblia junto al calefón. with Frank Blumetti. January 1991. pp. 2-4. Madhouse Nº 10.
  7. ↑ ¿Un argentino ácido?. with Carlos Parise. October 1991. pp. 16-17. Madhouse Nº 16.
  8. ↑ Blumetti, p. 5
  9. ↑ Rodríguez, César Fuentes; Blumetti, Frank (July 1992). "Los ídolos eternos" [The eternal idols]. Madhouse (in Spanish) (Buenos Aires: Editorial Llamoso) (23): 13–14. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sin Vaselina. with David Cufré. March 1994. pp. 4-7. Rock N' Shows Magazine Nº 4.
  11. ↑ Blumetti, pp. 5-6
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Blumetti, pp. 6-7
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Iorio, Ricardo (September 1993). Ni víctimas ni cambio. Interview with Metal.
  14. ↑ Nicolás Igarzábal (May 3, 2013). "Diez conciertos en la cárcel" [Ten concerts in prison] (in Spanish). Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 9, 2013. 
  15. ↑ Blumetti, Frank (1994). Madhouse (45). pp. 11–13. 
  16. ↑ Feijoo, Sebastián (1994). Madhouse (48). p. 34. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Malón (February 1995). Madhouse 49. Interview with Gustavo Olmedo / Frank Blumetti. pp. 9-10.
  18. ↑ Rodríguez, César Fuentes (April 1995). "Por la misma senda" [Through the same path]. Madhouse (in Spanish) (Buenos Aires: Editorial Llamoso) (51): 51. 
  19. ↑ "Gran Encuesta Madhouse 1995" [Big Madhouse poll 19995]. Madhouse (in Spanish) (Buenos Aires: Editorial Llamoso) (62): 23–24. February 1996. 
  20. ↑ Sebastián Esposito (December 17, 2011). "Malón vuelve; Hermética... aún no" [Malón returns; Hermética... not yet] (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved August 9, 2013. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Rodríguez, César Fuentes (May 1994). "Hermética: Víctimas del vaciamiento". Madhouse (in Spanish) (Buenos Aires: Editorial Llamoso) (41): 36–37. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "El Heavy metal es el verdadero movimiento del Rock". with César Fuentes Rodríguez. September 1994. pp. 4-5. Madhouse Nº 44.
  23. ↑ Blumetti, p. 1
  24. ↑ Hernández, p. 278

Bibliography

  • Blumetti, Frank; Mora, Miguel (October 1993). Madhouse Extra (in Spanish) (Buenos Aires: Editorial Llamoso) (2) 
  • Hernandez, Deborah Pacini (2004). Rockin' Las Américas. United States: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-4226-7. Retrieved August 9, 2013. 

External links

Hermética
Line-up
Albums
Related bands
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