BLASFEMIA “Guerra Total” LP reissue out TODAY: an interview with RAMON RESTREPO! Part 2
Second and final part of an interview to Ramon Restrepo by Giulio the Bastard. Besides playing bass and singing in BLASFEMIA, Ramon is the frontman of raging hardcore speed violence RESTOS DE TRAGEDIA, and singer of total South American black metal piooners PARABELLUM (1983!!), so shrieky, lewd and horrendous to put Dead-era MAYHEM to pose on the bandwagon of the “corpse paint” sissies….
GTB- What are you currently doing? Are you still active playing music and what is your current musical activity focused on?
Ramon- Currently I alternate between my metal band (Ramón solo) and the Hardcore unit Restos De Tragedia (RDT). I am working on my boxset discography collection which includes, among others, the CD with my other songs from 1989 that were recovered in 2009 and were not included neither in Parabellum’s or Blasfemia’s discographies. This boxset will also contain a book documenting the story of all the bands I played in. Regarding the other member of Blasfemia, drummer Luis Fernando Cano, he did not play with any any other group after Blasfemia, and is now dedicated to his family and profession.
GTB- BLASFEMIA’s LP is entirely dedicated to John Jairo Martinez (RIP). Can you explain in which tragic circumstances this true metal brother has died?
Ramon- I limit myself to translate an article regarding this story:
“Recently, one of the typically absurd violence manifestations plaguing this city took the life of John Jairo Martinez Villada, talented underground guitarist. Since very young he loved rock: a fan of Richie Blackmore, Toni Iommi, Jimmy Page and influenced by hundreds of other monsters of heavy, hard, and metal, John crazily got into playing electric guitar. His talent graced bands such as Metal Naciente, Nemesis, Parabellum, Blasfemia and Censura. After a few years and different recording experiences, many shows and involvement in the local music scene, John Jairo acquired a very good musical hear and became an expert rhythm guitarist, strong of a fast, emotional style. He crafted his own style, equalizing his Gibson guitar with a heavy, fuzzy distortion, and emphasizing the eerie reverbation effects pulling the strings with slow hands.
On Saturday March 21st, John Jairo was out having a few drinks and enjoying a good time after his usual rehearsal time with Censura, and around midnight, while walking home, he met his sad ending: after getting into a fight, he got stabbed the left side of his chest. One single stab was enough to get an almost bled to death John into the emergency room of Barrio san Javier. Weeks before, he had violently manifested his anti-social feelings and stated that he was forecasting something weird, and evil. He left a three years old daughter orphan, a family and many friends lost in the grievance of his strong vital energy, and also a band full of dreams and good prospects for the future.
John Jairo Martinez Villada, university student, worker, bohemian poet, good friend, taster of human pleasures and above all rock musician. A bright star which disappears after only 30 years of fast, intense life: nevertheless, his energy still pulses in the music that he left as inheritance. Might Metal rock him in the grave!!”
- The newspaper article commemorating the death of PARABELLUM and BLASFEMIA’s guitarist John Jairo Martinez Villada
GTB- How do you feel about the many bands of today playing extreme metal? is there any band in particular that you like most? Do you recognize the big influence of BLASFEMIA and PARABELLUM in some bands of today?
Ramon- Apart from my solo project, where Parabellum and Blasfemia’s influence is obvious, I have great admiration for a Bogota band of this generation (2009) called Belkant, whose music and lyrics are the closest thing I know to Parabellum and Blasfemia. As Blasfemia played during the beginning of early hardcore, RDT was the band in which I followed, keeping a lot of grindcore elements. I can also say that Medellin’s own Mordaz is also faithful to the archaic grind sound, and that its members, although being youngsters of the present generation, are very close to the extreme spirit of the musicians in Blasfemia and Parabellum.
GTB- fans of BLASFEMIA are also extremely devoted to the legend of PARABELLUM. Is there something about this band that you want to say here, in relation to BLASFEMIA? When can we expect a definitive re-edition of the PARABELLUM discography just like this one that came out for BLASFEMIA?
Ramon- I would start off saying that for the bands of our genre, the term “fans” does not exist or is not seen beyond mere sympathy or shared musical identity, otherwise it would be only considered as proper for the vanity of commercial music mainstream. As a witness and official guide, I would ask them to get a hold of my book “Prepara la Guerra, una Blasfemia, Sacrilegio o una obra de metal autorrealizada” (translated as “Prepare War, Blasphemy, Sacrilege or a piece of DIY metal”) present in my boxset.
There have already been many unofficila Parabellum editions, and this has created legal problems. The ex-Parabellum members have agreed not to yield to new offers for re-editions, besides the material contained in my boxset which must logically include the album “Tempus Mortis”. Just as a job resume contains many job references, same will be for my own complete discography.
Ok, that’s all… remember that BLASFEMIA “Guerra Total” vinyl reissue can be purchased trough FOAD Records directly, just click on the following buttons and order via credit card on our Scareystore…
BLASFEMIA “Guerra Total” regular vinyl edition
BLASFEMIA “Guerra Total” Die Hard Columbian Flag colored vinyl edition
