Self Released - 1993
8/10
These days, Argentina is one of the larger exporters of heavy metal in the South American continent, however just a few decades ago, the output was similar to its neighbors. With a decade full of guerilla warfare and military repression in the Dirty War, it wouldn't take long for Devastación to kick out a few demos by the end of the '80s. However, I feel demo number three from the early '90s encapsulated the best of these early sessions, that being Maquinarias De Poder, translating to "Power Machine." With a slightly more promising future in sight, a slightly tighter output came to be.
Of course, I use the term "tighter" rather liberally, as this demo is still rough and grating, only less-so compared to others outfits of the time and place. Devastación mostly reside on the death/thrash side of things, heavily crafting a style around beefy riffs and jarring changes in pace to keep an otherwise shorter release pretty interesting. What's really cool is that the despite the quality, the bass guitars come through really nicely, preventing this from ever feeling too flat. Considering that there's also some strength in terms of solos, I can confidently say that Maquinarias De Poder taps into great songwriting potential early on.
Only six tracks coming in under thirty minutes in length, you'll find much of this to be fairly digestible. "Barbara Imposicion" is easily a favorite, tapping into the more aggressive side of things with its speeds and sharp rhythms, and the vocals give a nice early Calavera snarl. The steadier center shows the band's riff variance, something I noted helps a lot of this, especially with the Slayer-esque patterns. "Muerte y Destrucción" on the other hand is crafted around the slower approach, making it all the more jarring when a solo at breakneck speed hits at the end, after cooling from its thrashier intro. Admittedly, some of the songs feel like they were recorded with an entirely different environment, as some of the production gets even more degrading in the second half, but I can't knock it too hard; what does come through is still strong. "Vida Lobrega" is a good example, letting in some cleaner but still menacing bridges.
While I've lately been keen on the horrendously gritty and uncomfortable releases of turn-of-the-century South American metal acts, I very much appreciate how unique this one feels among that. Not a single note on here comes off as approachable, but the writing itself has a nice identity, and I love that you can see specific death and thrash influences from the entire American continent. It does help that it's a shorter release, but if nothing else, the pacing here is wonderful. Could not recommend Devastación enough for all extreme metal fans.