Conjunto Vacío – Demo 2022

Born in the harshest winter, from San Carlos, Ñuble, in the middle of that long strip of land called Chile, Conjunto Vacío is a screamo band coming from the punk scene that might interest you if you’re a fan of that sound or just want to check out what’s happening in South America and all the vigorous, constant movement it contains. This is a young band that played their first show in July of this year and just a few days ago released their first demo, a short collection of tracks that introduces them to the rest of the world.

“1:32 am” opens the demo with a sad sound, tight but fragile, built up in a restless sway. The screams are a mixture of grief and anger, somehow desperate, just like the instrumentation in the middle of the song. After that there’s a reprise and it continues with II, a track with a similar vibe that builds in a crescendo that later fades into “5:57 am”, the third track, slow paced and somber. Up to this point everything feels really well connected.

The fourth track, “de nuevo, otra vez”, changes the tone a bit and starts to move quickly in a slightly different direction, hit after hit, but it has the same overall flavor of the release, as well as “dónde quedó?”, the last track. This band has a clear interest in contrast, flow and rupture, and you can feel it in their output from start to finish.

What we hear through the screams, sometimes half-sung, sometimes resembling hardcore vocals, are very personal lyrics. Introspective, dark, doubtful, tired. They don’t deal with specific historical events and are not directly confrontational: they look inward and stay there, pensive.

The overall quality of the Conjunto Vacío demo is what you would expect. You can easily distinguish each instrument, although the songs generally feel too tight, too compressed, and could use more punch and dynamics. Some of them feel a little off when you put them in context. But all in all it works well as a presentation for them as they venture into the terrain of this chaotic punk subgenre. You listen to it and immediately understand what they are vibing with, and if it is your thing, you might just go along with them.

CD copies available soon. Check Conjunto Vacío’s Instagram page to be aware of any news regarding that and the future of the group.