Erradicated Life

Back in 1992, Chacal had to undergo important changes. After discovering another Brazilian band going by the name of Chakal, the quartet was forced to change their name. The band went for Vibrión, and with the inclusion of lead guitarist Guillermo Giusti, its music intensified. The group that had once started as a thrash metal band was now embracing death metal, and so Vibrión went on to become one of the unsung bands that founded the Argentine death metal scene.

Erradicated Life was their first and only demo before their debut full-length. Containing only four songs, this was some of the heaviest music you could find in Argentina, along with demos from bands like Exterminio, Escabios, Gastre or Crematorio. Erradicated Life showcases Vibrión’s brand of death metal which reminds me a lot of Scream Bloody Gore/Leprosy era Death, with very similar riffs and down-tuned guitars, while the doomy instrumental Schizoid’s Obession wouldn’t have been out of place on any of Asphyx’s early records if van Drunen had put vocals on it. Nonetheless, the band had not forgotten their thrash roots yet, and almost the four songs go into one or two Slayer-styled thrash breakdowns, with tasty riffs that are the best company you can get for some hard headbanging excercises. Luis’ vocals are still in thrash territory too, as he doesn’t properly growl, so to speak. He sings with a rather raspy voice, and he shouts, he shouts a lot. Think of Karl Willets on In Battle There Is No Law: he doesn’t actually sing, it’s like he’s speaking very fast with a raspy vocal tone. Luis’ voice sounds something like that, but more shouted.

However, one of Vibrión’s most peculiar features was Gus’ drumming, Luis’ brother. Gus’ drumming was somewhat peculiar. On one hand we find the conventional blast-beats, particularly the hi-hat/snare kind. But on the other hand, Gus had his own way of blasting, which the band called the “cuatrijera” or double blast-beat in English. This way of drumming consisted in hitting the snare really fast with both drum sticks, as if he was playing an endless snare fill. Gus’ signature drumming, which would be featured on their future albums, helped Vibrión to earn its own musical identity, and it can (or not) be a little hard to digest and sound tiresome to people that is not that used to the technique. Whether you like it or not, the good thing is that is well done and the drumming in general doesn’t sound sloppy at all. Months ago I read an interview with Luis, and it was funny to read how they tried to explain their new Belgian drummer how the technique worked and how it was hard for the guy to actually dominate it without hurting his fingers (something that also used to happen to Gus).

Summing up, Erradicated Life was a refreshing and innovative release in a country where the heaviest music that you could find was Motörhead-styled thrash from bands like Hermética or Horcas or classic heavy metal. This was a new wave of bands that wanted to expand the boundaries of Argentina’s metal scene. The guys from Vibrión, unlike some of their peers were lucky to have the chance of releasing two albums and an EP that were Diseased, Closed Frontiers and Instinct respectively, before going into a forced and extended hiatus.

Originally submitted to http://theforlornson.wordpress.com/