Dorso is a Chilean

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band. Common themes in the band's music are horror film creatures, hyperbolic

sexual fetishes Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or nongenital body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has ''a fetish'' for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regard ...

and Chilean

myths Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

. The band's frontman,

Rodrigo Cuadra Rodrigo "Pera" Cuadra Burgoa (born 2 August 1967) is a Chilean musician, TV presenter and movie critic. From 2011, he has worked as a panelist in the television show ''Sin vergüenza'', from the ''Chilevisión'' open channel, where he comments o ...

, became a TV presenter in the 1990s.

History

Early years (1984–1988)

''Dorso'' was formed in 1984 by

, who was 17 at the time. His vision for the band was for it to be a musical synthesis of

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

, drawing extensively from

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

literature and

gore films A splatter film is a subgenre of horror films that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. These films, usually through the use of special effects, display a fascination with the vulnerability of the human body ...

for inspiration. ''Dorso'' made its first public gig in a

Ñuñoa Ñuñoa (; from Mapudungun ''Ñuñohue'', "place of yellow flowers") is a commune of the Northeastern zone of Santiago, in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile. According to the 2021 Urban Life Quality Index (ICVU), it is considered the fou ...

gym in 1984, with a setlist of heavy metal covers and original songs. By the time of the release of their first demo, ''Parajes de lo Desconocido'' (1985), ''Dorso'' was a trio led by its original frontman and two new hires, Gamal Eltit in guitars and Jaime Palma in drums.

1989–1995

Their first album, ''Bajo una luna cámbrica'', was released in 1989. It featured an eclectic blend of

prog rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

-inspired

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

, retrospectively described as

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

odd time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

s and traditional

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

. The second album, ''

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

'' (1990) is considered by many as one of the best of the band. Eltit and the newly hired drummer Eduardo Topelberg left the band citing musical disagreements after recording ''Romance''. Two new members joined the band, ex-''Nimrod'' Marcelo Naves in drums and guitarist Alvaro Soms. This line-up went on to record ''Dorso''s best-selling album to date, ''

El Espanto Surge de la Tumba El Espanto Surge de la Tumba is the third album by Dorso. In this album the band wanted to try a more brutal and extreme sound. Track list #Deadly Pajarraco #Ultraputrefactus Criatura # El Espanto Surge de la Tumba # Silvestre Holocaust #Horrib ...

'' (1993). The album's heavy use of

Spanglish Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mos ...

black humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

and

bilingual puns A bilingual pun is a pun created by a word or phrase in one language sounding similar to a different word or phrase in another language. The result of a bilingual pun is often a joke that makes sense in more than one language. A bilingual pun can ...

, as well as Soms' distinctive riff-writing became the defining characteristics of the band's sound. Their next album, ''Big Monsters Aventura'' was released to some success in 1995, with the eponymous song being featured on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...

''. This album featured more

goregrind Goregrind is a fusion genre of grindcore and death metal. British band Carcass are commonly credited for the emergence of the genre. Goregrind is recognized for its heavily edited, pitch shifted "watery"-sounding vocals and abrasive musiciansh ...

elements than its predecessor.

Dorso now (since 1998)

Following the release ''Disco Blood'' in 1998, the band went on to release two live albums followed by a short hiatus and the return of Eltit in guitars. In 2008 the band released ''Espacium'', and in 2012 ''Recolecciones Macabras del Campo Chileno'', featuring for the first time some

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

and

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

elements, with lyrical themes revolving around Chilean

and

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

Band members

Current lineup

* Rodrigo "Pera" Cuadra – vocals and bass, bass overdrive, synths, keyboards, percussion, acoustic guitar (since 1984) *Gamal Eltit – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, lute, percussion, programming, backing vocals (1984–1991, since 2001) *Álvaro Soms – lead guitar (since 1991) *Fran Muñoz – drums, percussion (since 2008)

Former members

*Mauricio Castillo – lead guitar (1984) *Alvaro Cuadra – rhythm guitar (1986) *Claudio Alfaro – bass (1984) *Juan Francisco Cueto – bass (1995) *Marcelo Castillo – drums, percussion (1984) *Gonzalo Lara – drums, percussion (1984) *Jaime Palma – drums, percussion (1984–1989) *Rafael Alfaro – drums, percussion (1989) *Juan Coderch – drums, percussion (1989) *Eduardo Topelberg – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1989–1991) *Marcelo Naves – drums, percussion (1991–2008) *Bernardo Riquelme – percussion (1984)

Discography

* ''Bajo una luna Cámbrica'' (1989) * ''

'' (1990) * ''

'' (1993) * ''

Big Monster Aventura ''Big Monster Adventura'' is the fourth album by Dorso. Like the album ''El Espanto Surge de la Tumba'' the band wanted to experience something brutal and extreme. Track list #Big Monster Aventura #Godzilla #Cosmic Condoro #Panificator #Guerra ...

'' (1995) * ''Disco Blood'' (1998) * ''Espacium'' (2008) * ''Recolecciones Macabras del Campo Chileno'' (2012) * ''Gore and Roll'' (2019)

Demos

* ''Parajes de lo Desconocido'' (1985) * ''Guerra de Criaturas'' (1987)

Live albums

* ''Lari la live!'' (2002) * ''Unplugged Cósmico'' (2005)

Other albums

* ''Gallinazeous Death SQVAD'' (pronounced "Squad") (1989) * ''Sangre Eterna'' (2002) * ''El Huésped'' (2005) Note: Both items are included as bonus tracks on ''Espacium'' (2008).

References

{{Authority control Speed metal musical groups Chilean thrash metal musical groups Chilean death metal musical groups Groove metal musical groups Progressive metal musical groups Avant-garde metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1984