Artist: Masacre
Country: Colombia
Label: Osmose Productions
Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP
Year: 2025
In many ways the term “cult” applies to the early work of Masacre, and basically the band still very much fit to that overused expression. Not only was Masacre one of the first bands in the late 80’s that helped kickstart the Extreme Metal movement in their native Colombia and, on a broader scale, the whole of Latin America, but it was also one of the first bands to sign to Osmose Productions. The band’s debut album, 1991’s ‘Reqviem’ was only Osmose Productions’ second ever release, only six months after Samael’s ‘Worship Him’ from the same year.
What landed the Colombian band a deal with the newborn label was the ‘Ola De Violencia’ 12” EP that the band released themselves in early 1991 – in two editions of both 500 copies. The vinyl itself remained mostly on the Latin American mainland, but the recordings went around the world like wildfire via the tape trading circuit. The Death Metal from these shores had a totally different connotation than that from Sweden, England, Holland or the United States. It was wild, raw and full of pent-up rage. Although it was totally different from what Americans or Europeans were used to, it went down like hotcakes. Eventually, that ferocious and chaotic sound became the trademark for the entire South American Extreme Metal scene.
However, Osmose Productions was not done with the Colombians after the release of ‘Reqviem’. The recordings of ‘Ola De Violencia’ were again brought to the public through a split LP (and CD) with Profanatica, then just affiliated with Osmose Productions. Yet that split LP did not exactly mark the start of a successful career for either band. Profanatica had more or less disbanded by the time the split LP was released and Masacre left the Osmose Productions label through the back door, after which it again relied primarily on its own Colombian/South American market.
But to stick with Latin after ‘Reqviem’: “vetus amor non sentit rubiginem”, or in other words, old love does not rust. Osmose Productions has once again taken care of bringing these primary recordings of this Colombian legend back to the limelight. Not only has ‘Reqviem’ been given a fine new edition (double LP with an extra 7” or as a double cassette tape) but the so significant ‘Ola De Violencia’-recordings have also been revisited.
That milestone of a 12” EP is now available for the first time again. Well, not really, because these recordings saw several other reissues, but not as a stand-alone release like this, including the original cover art. Listening back to these three songs with the ears of 2025 makes you realize that over the years of the band’s existence not much has changed. So you can’t necessarily blame the messy sound on youthful enthusiasm and lack of resources; this is the band’s deep-rooted primal sound. The wild pummeling and shrieking vocals, it is just something else – not only a testament of the band’s early days, but the wellspring of something vibrantly new. Once your ears got used to the raw and rough sound of the demo recordings, it is easy to understand that this caused some stir. And now that these tracks come fully remastered, they sound better than ever.
Purists may claim that this reissue isn’t quite like the original, not only because of the slightly enhanced overall sound, but mainly because it has all three tracks of the original 12” EP put on side A and side B contains another bunch of tracks not available on the original release. They may be right, but on the B-side we do find some of the best-sounding Masacre songs to date, thanks in part to a powerful remastering. ‘Termonuclear’ and ‘Los Pecados Del Dios’ originally came from the ‘Cáncer De Nuestros Días’ (1990) and ‘Colombia… Imperio Del Terror’ (1989) demos respectively (and not the other way around as the inside cover of this reissue indicates). Personally I only knew these songs as yet another generation dub on tape and so was totally amazed by the heavy sound these recordings, truly a world of difference. It seems like they were completely re-recorded and they are certainly not inferior to contemporary Death Metal of American origin. The last two songs were recorded live and originally appeared on the ‘Concierto en Armenia Mayo 13/89’ live demo tape and these recordings too are solidly polished and sound more than excellent on this freshly pressed vinyl.
If you are in the market for an original in somewhat decent condition you have to bring a king’s ransom these days, it will be challenging to get one for less than a few 100 bucks. In that regard, Osmose Production’s move to reissue this one is just a smart idea, but definitely not merely for financial reasons. I am not a fan of big terms, but I already mentioned “milestone”, and this is really one of those records. A true milestone in Colombian/Latin American Extreme Metal that deserves as many reissues as demanded.
