Vibrion - Erradicated Life

Vibrion were among the earliest extreme metal acts to emerge from Argentina and they also happen to have an interesting and distinct sound. Tragic then that for the most part their discography is virtually impossible to obtain in a physical format. What made Vibrion sound so distinct is not any strain of mind-melting originality but more the way in which they synthesise a number of metal genre's into something familiar yet still vaguely alien. The Erradicated Life ep is perhaps the easiest of their releases to find, this 7" repress of their demo tape of the same name was mercifully released by the small Swiss label Witchhunt. While it may not be their best release it is an excellent introduction to a highly underrated act and can be picked up pretty cheap.

Musically Erradicated Life is rooted firmly in grindcore, the lyrics are based mostly around social issues/observations and the guitar playing is highly indebted to the like of Napalm Death. The gruff and urgent vocal delivery is highly reminiscent of the Brazilian thrash/death scene as is the general rawness of the recording.  In contrast there is a degree of technicality to the songwriting beyond that typical of old-school grindcore and more indicative of death metal acts like Morbid Angel, while conversely the more simplistic slow grooves bring to mind the neanderthal Obituary.

However, perhaps Vibrion's most interesting facet is their almost industrial quality, the rapid-fire combination of staccato riffs and mechanistic at times martial-esque drumming create a cold, oppresive machine like atmosphere. It is a quality that would become progressively more pronounced on later records, the closest comparisson i can think of is the earliest Fear Factory material and maybe a less embellished Red Harvest, but Vibrion's combination of influences marks them out.

Overall a massively underrated act, their first lp Diseased is the definition of a forgotten gem. Sadly it was released on a small domestic label and despite having had two tracks from this ep featured on the Grindcore compilation cd on Nuclear Blast it was never picked up by a larger label. Consequently the Diseased cd is a  bugger to find and has the distinction of being my single most wanted item.