TREPANADOR, Trepanador (1994, demo)
The skull:
This artwork metal enough for ya? Holy crap. His flesh may be gone, but he’s still got eyes, fangs and tongue. This guy’s night of mischevious hella-fun is just gettin’ started! So, technically, yes, this is a form of trepanation, a drill with a humongous bit slammed into the uppermost part of the skullcap. Perhaps not one of the most subtle ways to achieve the pressure relief or increased blood brain flow that the procedure’s adherents are looking for, but it’s not the most subtle of surgical interventions in the first place. Then, plug that shit into a Marshall amp with the cord provided and you have the sound of METAAAAALLLLL!!!!
The music:
If you couldn’t have guessed from the cover art, this is a thrash metal demo. These Argentinians entered the game pretty late, so it’s not surprising that theirs is a completely redundant form of thrash metal. The vocalist’s guttural bark is a complete turn-off, too. To be fair, he mixes things up by employing a hysterical high-pitched wail that sounds appropriately panicky, if also lacking any real control. Musically it’s very fast and aggressive, not unlike Schizophrenia-era Sepultura, but not so like it that you should seek it out. It’s all quite dull, unfortunately. A variety of tempos are mixed up nicely, and the ability is here, it’s just that Trepanador lack the ability to compose anything approaching a memorable song.
— Friar Wagner
