User:Kanelgor/Ultra Metal

Ultra Metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that emerged in Colombia between the eighties and the mid-nineties in Medellín, being a relatively Underground genre, it is categorized as an extreme metal subgenre.

Its origins go back to the 1980s in the midst of an environment of war, death and difficult living conditions generated by the Colombian Armed Conflict; In the midst of these events, this movement was born that was related to Norwegian Black meta.

Characteristics
Ultra metal was characterized by its strong musical character in its recordings, it opposed all established rhythmic order in the metal of the time and decided to experiment with a stronger sound, they initially shared many techniques and characteristics of the First wave of Black metal, but they distance themselves by superimposing "Crudeza" and "Estridentencia", elements that transcended even clothing and fast guitars. A torrid environment that reflected hopelessness and social ruin, state abandonment, unemployment, society's indifference towards youth, the generation gap, drug trafficking, violence, and contempt for life, were the breeding ground of this nihilistic, anarchist, decadent, rebellious and marginal current that even winked at satanism, gore, and graphic violence and the red news, to confront a hypocritical and censorist fanatical society.

Origin and development
The origin of Ultra metal is usually cited and recognized with the band Parabellum and their album "El Sacrilegio" in 1987, likewise, it is suggested to the initial formation in 1981, when Carlos Mario "La Bruja" and Tomás Cipriano decided to form Parabellum, beginning to practice rhythms and record demos in a dark room at Carlos Mario's house, and in 1982 they were joined by John Jairo and Ramón Reinaldo. From that moment, other bands began to form around Parabellum, using the same technique and sound that differentiate them from everything else.

Another cited form is in 1984 with the consolidation as a group of Parabellum and the "mythical" concert at Parqueadero Manrique on December 22, 1984, where it became fully known, with its strength and unique style. The conformation of the genre came from the avant-garde improvisation of Parabellum in 1982, which initially began as "Juana la Loca".

Its development was carried out with social pressure and the situation in Medellín in the eighties provoked hatred in the youth of the time, adding the arrival of foreign metal and punk to Latin America, mainly bands like Motorhead, Morbid Angel, Venom, Metallica, Ramones and more, encouraged the formation of musical projects, and many of these, groups of young people who contradicted the laws and regulations, got together and formed bands in the midst of the chaos of the city, being a point apart from suffering social.

In 1985 Reencarnación appeared, another cult band that, influenced by Parabellum, began to give a sound described as "Dead" and fast to Ultra metal, from then on, Carlos Mario and Victor Raúl "Piolín" Jaramillo, founder of Reincarnation, began to talk about the Metal of their city, and it is in that same year where the underground sound within Metal is already formed.

In that same year, one of the most remembered events in the history of Colombian Metal took place, "La Batalla de las Bandas" organized by Veracruz Estero in the Plaza de Toros La Macarena in Medellín on March 23, 1985, where the band that If the public liked it, a record work would be made; the line-up was made up of both experienced and rookie bands, among the most prominent were Spool, Kraken,, Danger, Shit, Excalibur and Parabellum. Precisely the band that started that festival was Parabellum. From the moment it started until the end of its time, the public rioted inside the square and the police could not control the exorbitant behavior of the attendees; Kraken, which was the band that followed them in order, could not perform due to the disorder that occurred, the concert began at 1:00 p.m. m. in the afternoon but could not finish, given the situation it was thought that the record work belonged to Parabellum, but it did not, after 6 months the Kraken album - Kraken I came out.

"Sacrilegio", the first Ultra Metal EP released in 1987, had many complications. Discos Victoria was the company in charge of releasing "Sacrilegio", the company recognized for its Vallenato productions, was the place chosen to record the songs Madre Muerte and Spawn 666, who made up the EP, eight days after the delivery of the tape, the owners of Discos Victoria refused to record, considering them a satanic band and the cursed album, because they claimed to feel strange presences in the venue, for which the band decided to access Discos Fuentes, but they were also denied entry, rumors that a satanic band wanted to release an album had spread, in addition, the album cover is a black and white edited image of the Virgen del Carmen. Later they returned to Discos Victoria to finish recording the EP, but as soon as the tape was put into the equipment, it burned, as if it had really been cursed, the manager of Discos Victoria agreed to convince the staff of Discos Fuentes and finally In March 1987, this studio put out 500 copies of "Sacrilege."

Influences to Black Metal
The Philosophy of Ultra Metal bands was close to Anti-Anticristianismo, they were always repressed by the authorities, they observed the very conservative and repressive Catholic faith, but unlike the Norwegian Black Metal Movement they never took radical actions, they attacked without fear to the church in their letters but they never committed a symbolic act that represented their thought, it is known of the concert held inside a church that was rented to Parabellum, but immediately the ecclesiastical authorities heard the "Rumble" they called the police, reporting that the church had been taken over by the ELN, in response the police entered shooting and ended up evicting the church. Another event is the one carried out by the sect "Los Lobos contra Cristo", made up of members of gangs at the end of Anti-Christianity who poisoned 18 anchetas delivered to priests.

Regarding Black Metal, the influences came from 1986 when Mauricio "Bull Metal", drummer member of the sect "Los Lobos contra Cristo" and founder of Masacre began a journey of worldwide music exchange with other bands and Metal magazines, among so many letters and packages, they contacted Mayhem in 1987, who expressed their desire to seek a macabre and dark sound, in addition to explaining their nonconformity with the Norwegian news of that time; so to exchange with Mayhem a Parabellum Cassette was sent. Some time later in response to the Demos sent, Euronymous sent a letter expressing their surprise at such a sound, classified as "raw" and dark, it could come from Colombia, the band's vocalist, dead, expressed his taste for Ultra metal carrying the band Reincarnation and the song "888 metal" on his jacket

The music Deathcrush of Mayhem was directly partly inspired by the sounds of Ultra metal, which, to the surprise of many, helped to consolidate Black Metal due to its avant-garde and experimental proposal. In 1995 Warmaster Records, Bull's record label, officially released a live LP Dawn of the Black Hearts

Legacy
The legend of Parabellum is still palpable in Colombia and Latin America, since it leaves a very high point of Metal produced in Latin America, and many bands after Parabellum came to settle. Parabellum became a cult band in the World Underground. At the end of 1987 in the middle of a Parabellum and Shit concert, the tensions between bands became present, for 1988 Parabellum releases "Mutation by Radiation" but by that time the band was already disintegrated. Ramón Restrepo, vocalist, founded Blasfemia, a cult Colombian Black metal band, Tomas Cipriano, after a while he withdrew completely from the scene, Carlos Mario, continued with Parabellum until consolidating the band's work until 1991, from then on in 2001 it forms Organisms.

Reincarnation is the only active band on the scene, leaving Ultra Metal aside to join the newcomer Black Metal, along with them there is evidence of Danger, currently active, and Nekromantie.

Bands
The bands that stood out in their lyrics and sound within the genre were:


 * Parabellum: 1983-1988. metal-archive
 * Reencarnación: 1986-present. metal-archive
 * Danger: 1985-1988, 1993-present. metal-archive
 * Blasfemia: 1986-1988, 2013-present. metal-archive
 * Nekromantie: 1985-1989, 2016-present. metal-archive
 * Sacrilegio: 1984-1987. metal-archive
 * Mierda: 1983-1988. metal-archive
 * Astaroth: 1985-1987. metal-archive

documentaries

 * 2017: Parabellum: El Diablo nació en Medellín