Parabellum were a Colombian

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 ...

band from

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

active in the 1980s. The band was described by ''

Terrorizer Terrorizer is an American grindcore band formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. After disbanding, its members gained recognition by playing in influential extreme metal bands, such as Morbid Angel ( David Vincent, Pete Sandoval), Napalm D ...

'' magazine as one of the world's first

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 ...

bands, as well as the first extreme metal band from Colombia and one of the first from all

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. According to writer Emilio Cuesta, Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth—a musician associated with the

early Norwegian black metal scene The early Norwegian black metal scene of the 1990s is credited with creating the modern black metal genre and produced some of the most acclaimed and influential artists in extreme metal. It attracted massive media attention when it was revealed ...

—has said Parabellum and Medellín's Reencarnación were both influential to his own band Mayhem. Parabellum were formed in Medellín, Antioquia, in early 1983 by drummer Cipriano Álvarez and guitarist Carlos Mario Pérez. It took the band until 1987 to release their debut single, the two track ''Sacrilegio'', limited to 500 copies. This was followed up with a second EP, ''Mutación por radiación'', in 1988, limited to 600 copies. ''Sacrilegio'' was reissued in 1992, again limited to 500 copies, and a bootlegged version surfaced with an added third track ("Guerra, Monopolio, Sexo"). Adam Ganderson of ''Terrorizer'' describes their music as "somewhere between

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

and bizarrely backwards

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 ...

riffing ... one of those inimitable sounds that can only be generated by accident. Seriously, this is some of the weirdest, most intense music ever to blast from the gutters." The band also makes a brief appearance in

Víctor Gaviria Víctor Manuel Gaviria González (born January 19, 1955, in Liborina, Antioquia, Colombia) is a Colombian film director, writer, and poet. His four feature-length films are acclaimed and have won many international awards. He is the first Colo ...

's film '' Rodrigo D: No Future''. Blasfemia Records released the ''Tempus Mortis'' compilation in 2005, which consists of the band's two EPs, six previously unreleased rehearsal tracks from 1984 to 1985, and a video track from the 1985 La Batalla de la Bandas festival. According to ''

Zero Tolerance A zero tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule.zero tolerance, n.' (under ''zero, n.''). The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2009. Italy, Japan, Singapore China, Indi ...

'' magazine, "the sound that Parabellum created was one of unprecedented

nihilism Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...

, evil and extremity. ..They were pioneers and sonic adventurers operating in a world of violence,

squalor Squalor refers to filthiness and degradation, as from neglect or poverty. Squalor may also refer to: * ''Squalor'' (comic), a limited series by Stefan Petrucha and Tom Sutton * Student squalor, various situations of student housing * Senile S ...

and geographical isolation."

Members

* Cipriano Álvarez (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) * John Jairo Martínez (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

) * Ramón Reinaldo Restrepo (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

) * Carlos Mario Pérez ("La Bruja") (guitar)

Discography

* ''Sacrilegio'' (EP, Discos Fuentes, 1987) * ''Mutación por radiación'' (EP, Sonolux, 1988) * ''Tempus Mortis'' (compilation, Blasfemia, 2005)

References

{{Reflist __NOTOC__ Colombian black metal musical groups Colombian death metal musical groups Musical groups from Medellín Musical groups established in 1983 Rock en Español music groups