Hermética

Hermética's "Idem" left an indelible mark in the world of Argentinean heavy music. What we have here is perhaps the first conscious expression of what is considered "metal argento" in the Argentinean scene. Produced by Ricardo Iorio, this album was recorded between May and June of the economically tough year 1989, and represented a serious punch to the "hippie" and "cheap" Argentine rock/metal scene of the time.

This album shines not because of its bulky riffs and solos of unmatched originality, nor for a sound which is pompous or majestic. It stands above the rest because of the masterful combination of aggressive riffs and powerfully imaginative lyrics which discuss art in a very heartfelt manner. This album is clearly in the vein of heavy thrash musically, with well-located parts of double pedal drumming and some clean voices, alternating with O’Connor’s raspy voice. Probably, early Metallica was more present than Motorhead or any other band in the book of the members then. The lyrics are (synthesizing) often about nationalism and acid social criticism ( 'Sepulcro Civil' for example), as well as personal reflections ( 'Yo no lo hare' for example).

Overall, this album was a very rare thing throughout the Argentinean music scene in the late eighties, and very catchy. One of the best things about it is that the lyrics seem to always speak from the perspective of someone from the neighborhood, the street, taking elements to the lyrics from here and there, but never from the place of the parasite, the 'artist' (politically correct) committed with pockets full of money, or the pseudo-hippie with a destroyed brain.

One of the highlights of the album: an excellent song, dedicated to Mr. Giardino guitarist of Rata Blanca (some say): ‘Deja de robar’ (Stop Stealing). And we must also of course mention 'Craneo Candente' and 'Yo no lo hare', the latter last one starting with a very catchy clean part and then rushing into the heavy riffings…

Hermética's "Idem" is a true masterpiece of heavy-thrash Argentinian music which will reach out to other Spanish speakers as well. Statistically this band was the biggest metal band in the country, in sold records as in the size of their gigs. For the Argentinian metal-heads, recommending this album is a trivial recommendation; 95% of them have already heard of this band, and 70% of them can recite perfectly from memory the lyrics of many of its songs.