Farewell to my friends’ band, Patazera

When you are among metalheads, it is almost unavoidable to be around musicians. Eventually, they form a band, and as usual, you want to support them, regardless of whether they are brilliant or not, or if their entire setlist consists of the same old covers. But there is a time in which one of those bands, your friends’ band become something different, they thrive to do more original stuff and all of the sudden, they find their voice and develop it accordingly. All of a sudden they are no longer a band known by their friends and relatives, other people see their potential and vibrate at the same frequency just as much as you do. When that kind of thing happens to your mates’ musical act, you let yourself go, and you embrace their success as your own.

I’m pretty sure the opening sounds familiar to most of you, you can relate to it. I have gone through it for eight years with a band, a band that brought me so many memories, dear friends, and even got me in touch with Atmostfear Entertainment and landed me a writer position in here. All of those things happened because of a single band, four guys that decided to make music for the mere pleasure of it, and to make people move. A band that I saw get born, I saw them grow, evolve, both musically and personally and until very recently I saw them call it quits. For most people, fans included, seeing that fatal statement, in which your beloved group said that they are done, ended, it is a sad thing to read. But when you are close to them, it becomes a heartbreaking moment. The band to which these words are dedicated to is Patazera, a Colombian band of groove metal that after eight years called it quits.

My relation with Patazera was built a long time ago while the band was still in blueprints. I saw how from the remains of another band the basis of Patazera was settled. I was in the first gig, several rehearsals, the inception of several logos, and as I said, I saw them getting their own voice. It all began because two of the three pillars of Patazera happened to be brothers and I happened to be friends with David Orjuela, bassist of the band. Due to that friendship, I got to know Ivan Orjuela, one of the creative motors and guitarist, and César Lopez vocalist and former bassist. From the beginning on, I saw that Patazera was more than just a group, it was a family matter from the start, when David Orjuela went to do a master’s degree in Brazil, the band kept going as a power trio with César playing bass while singing. During those two years, Patazera dedicated themselves to create their own music and voice, something in which they believed in with the company of Rodolfo Hernandez in the drumset.

In eight years Patazera didn’t change much, only in the drums, and it was later with the addition of Mauricio Ramirez that the band made some real progress in their music. For most of us fans that was the dream line-up of Patazera, and it was the line-up that created the sound we loved, the energy we craved for, and personally, it was the organic structure that had the greatest potential to make it in the metal world. These members played the songs that resonate the most with those young fans the band kept gathering with each performance. It was this version of the band that got Colombian Daniel Salamanca deciding to play it in Atmostfear Entertainment, and that’s how I came to this site. For five years this ensemble made it to play in different arenas, to open for various acts, to build up lots of reputation in Bogotá. This was the time in which I saw other people taking interest in my buddies, I saw the reception they had in different presentations and gigs, I saw the transformation of a band playing in small bars to bigger audiences creating cyclones of people, moshing away, while my friends were on stage. In each performance, they gave everything they had, and most of the time people responded equally. The amount of broken noses with a huge smile on them was fantastic. I felt happy and immensely proud that the talent of my friends was being acknowledged.

Of course, nothing is immune to changes and the lineup of Patazera changed once again with the change on the drums with Carolina Pita integrating with the band. This formation saw the inclusion of the band into the list of groups that participated in Festival Rock al Parque back in 2014. A benchmark indeed for almost any band in Colombia mostly because of the doors it’s supposed to open not only nationally but internationally as well. However, Carolina’s time with Patazera was short, and Mauricio Ramirez got back as percussionist and the reunion didn’t last long as, for personal reasons, Ivan Orjuela left Colombia, leaving the band by extension. The announcement of Patazera’s ending came just last night, bringing to most of the people that follow the band a sad feeling of despair for it’s not just the end of a group, for most of them, it is the end of a great idea we all believed in, a sentiment. For me, it represents also the end of an era, the end of eight years of relationships, of creating memories with every gig, with each headbang I did to the sounds of ‘Palestina’ and ‘Patazera’. I will sorely miss seeing them on the stage, with the Orjuela brothers headbanging like two huge fans while playing the chords I knew so well, with César energetically going from one side of the stage to the next, making people get their fit and mosh like there was no tomorrow, and the marvelous drum solos Mauricio performed in a magnificent way. It’s the end of meeting with my friends, most of them created in every gig. It’s the end of having feedback from the people and the guys on how they felt the set went. Deep down I know that everyone will make a name for themselves on different projects and that they will succeed in their personal life, and I can only wish them the very best.