Hermética's first drummer, Tony Scotto, left the band in 1991 and was replaced by Claudio Strunz, right before they recorded Ácido Argentino. The album was certified gold by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers (CAPIF) for its sales in Argentina.[1] The label, Radio Tripoli, proposed them to make the new album in a studio of Miami or Los Angeles. The leader Ricardo Iorio rejected the proposal, preferring to stay in the country.[2]
Production
Drummer Claudio Strunz had better recording conditions than on Ácido Argentino, as he had both more time to practice the songs and experience with the band. Unlike the previous album, the new one had more varied song structures and a higher coordination with the guitar style of Antonio Romano. The working name for the album was Desde adentro (lit.'From the inside'); it was later changed to Víctimas del Vaciamiento, a song from their first album, Hermética.[3] The band asked the plastic artist Marina Devesa to do the artwork, based on ideas of Iorio, who wanted a cover similar to the style of 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. The artwork was rejected because it turned out to be similar to that of a Spanish band. She made a new version, which was also rejected. Then the band asked Christian Heredia, a painter that designed banners for the band, to rework Devesa's last artwork, creating the definitive cover.[4]
Ricardo Iorio wrote all the lyrics of the album. Unlike previous albums, where songs addressed several topics, each song of the new album was focused on a specific topic.[5] For example, "Otro día para ser" is about environmentalism, "Olvídalo y volverá por más" is about the corruption scandals involving the mayor of Buenos Aires Carlos Grosso, "Hospitalarias realidades" is about health care in Argentina, "Buscando razón" is about musicians who change their music genres, and "Del colimba" is about Conscription in Argentina.[6] The album also includes a song, "Moraleja", a folklore song in stark contrast with the thrash metal of the rest of the album. The band clarified in interviews that this song was composed during tours as a joke.[4]
Promotion and break-up
The band initially considered promoting the album with a concert in Stadium, the venue where they recorded En vivo 1993 Argentina. The idea was discarded, as the place was not large enough to accommodate their growing audience. Instead, they made a concert at the Estadio Obras Sanitarias. They recorded a live album, including a thrash metal cover version of the song De los pagos del tiempo by folk singer José Larralde. As the album was certified gold, they arranged to receive the award on-stage, during the concert.[7]
The band broke up a few months later. The relations among the members of the band became more conflictual. The singer Claudio O'Connor said that Iorio shifted "from leader to tyrant, but we could not go on without him because the name is his and the lyrics are his. He had a lot of clout inside the band".[8] He also claimed that the money was distributed unevenly among the members of the band, with Iorio keeping 40% of the band's earnings. After the breakup, Iorio started the band Almafuerte with guitarist Claudio Marciello and drummer Claudio Cardacci.[9] The other members of Hermética stayed together as Malón.[8]
Reception
In a 2023 review of Iorio's work, Sebastián Chaves of Rolling Stone considered Victimas del Vaciamiento one of the best last albums of any band, possibly because no other Hermética albums were made after it. He noted that the album's context was highly influenced by the presidency of Carlos Menem.[10]
Ricardo Iorio – bass guitar, lead vocals on "Olvídalo y volverá por más" and "Del colimba", fragment on "Moraleja" and introduction on "Otro día para ser"
Alvaro Villagra – Sound engineer, keyboards on "Otro día para ser" and "Cuando duerme la ciudad", piano on "Moraleja"
Sergio Fasanelli – Executive producer
Christian Heredia – cover art
Gonzalo Dobleg – graphic design
Andrés Violante – photography
Bibliography
Blumetti, Frank; Mora, Miguel (October 1993). "Hermética: el sonido de la gente" [Hermética: the sound of the people]. Madhouse Extra (in Spanish) (2). Buenos Aires: Editorial Llamoso.
^Iorio, Ricardo (September 1994). "El Heavy metal es el verdadero movimiento del Rock". Madhouse (Interview). No. 44. Interviewed by César Fuentes Rodríguez. pp. 4–5.
^Ignacio Andrés Amarillo (24 October 2023). "Ricardo Iorio: 61 años evitando el ablande" [Ricardo Iorio: 61 years avoiding softening] (in Spanish). El Litoral. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
