Interview with Hernán Parafioriti from Lázaro | “As Long as We Have Strength, We Will Continue”
December 20, 2025, at the Marquee in Buenos Aires, will mark Lázaro’s return to the stage, and they won’t be alone. They’ll be joined by Miguel Roldan, Barni, Oíd Mortales, and DBM. But as far as Lázaro is concerned, there’s one thing to note: they’ll be playing live again after a long, long time. I thought their last time had been back in 2016, in the town of Remedios de Escalada, south of Buenos Aires, but Hernán Parafioriti, Lázaro’s singer and guitarist, corrected me. The last time was in 2017. Since the first time I saw them live, on April 11, 1998 (I remember it perfectly because I also have that concert recorded…heh!) in San Francisco Solano. From then on, I followed them whenever I could. We have countless anecdotes, such as the fact that we never managed to do an interview when Del Otro Lado was a radio program, but anyway, that’s beside the point. We got our revenge, and here is the conversation we had with Hernán Parafioriti, who told us about this return to the stage, and with whom we reviewed, in passing, a little bit about the history of Lázaro, a band that has been around since the ’90s, in case anyone didn’t know, and which has an extensive career, marked by some gaps in between, but Hernán took it upon himself in this interview to clear up the reasons why. It is a pleasure for us to have this “ due” conversation, but above all because of our years of friendship, respect, and many stories in between….
If I’m not mistaken, Lázaro hasn’t played live since 2016… it’s been a long time since we’ve seen them on stage…
“I think the last time we played live was in 2017, at “Uniclub”, when we were invited by Boanerges. Yes, many years ago, without any live performances, we were writing new songs, we released the EP ”Volver a unir“ in 2020/2021 and several more songs, including our own and covers, until this year…”
What does this opportunity to get back on stage and play live mean to you? What can we expect and how are you preparing for this show?
“It represents a desire to reconnect with people and enjoy music together, where the energy is greater than when listening to an album. We’re right there with the audience, singing together, enjoying ourselves together. Expect a lot of energy, strength, power, rawness, a good message… the right message. We are preparing with a lot of personal rehearsals and we get together with Guido (Fischer, Lázaro’s drummer, who lives in the province of Misiones, Argentina) as often as possible and try to make the most of our time together. Although these are songs we played a long time ago, the ensemble between the four of us always has adjustments that can be seen when we are all together, and that’s where we iron out any deficiencies.”
To calm the anxiety a little, are you going to play the classics? I guess the “tarantella” couldn’t be missing….
“It’s going to be a night of many classics with some post-2020 songs. The tarantella…”
It can’t be missing, of course….
Will this December date be the kickoff to start playing live more often? Do you have anything in mind in that regard? I ask because people often ask when Lázaro is playing, since there’s a whole generation that never got to see them live…
“That’s the idea, to be able to schedule a series of shows that builds up. Yes, there’s a generation of kids who didn’t see us play, but I think they’ll have more opportunities in the future, God willing.”
Lázaro released two studio albums (“No Más Vendas” in 1997 and “Crear o Reventar” in 1999) plus a live album (“Escenarios” in 2001). Can we take a look at each of them?
“Yes, of course…”
What did “No Más Vendas” mean to Lázaro? What impact did this album have? Tell us some details about the recording, the process, if any songs were left out, etc.
“No Más Vendas” was a dream, it was a dream to be able to record an album in 1995 when we started recording, because going into a studio, with no experience as was our case, was a dream come true. It was very difficult to record an album at that time as an independent band, without a record deal to subsidize the recording. We took out a bank loan to pay for the recording of “No Más Vendas.”
That album was recorded on 2-inch open tape, on 16 channels. The guitars used were the Washburn N2 and the Jackson JDR94 plugged into a Digitech RP1 pedalboard and from there to a Fender Bassman, so all the effects and distortions came from that pedalboard, which was amazing at the time. There were some complications with the drum channels, which had been used a lot, and there were no channels left to record other instruments, so we had to group the drum channels together. It was an experience full of hits and misses. It was our first serious experience in a studio, and the result was “No Mas Vendas,” a fresh and innovative album where we put everything we wanted to put because we didn’t know if another recording would be possible.”
With “Crear O Reventar,” there was better production, how its production was managed, how Mario Ian got involved, etc.
“With ”Crear o Reventar,“ we already had the experience of the other recording. With the sale of ”No mas Vendas,“ the recording of ”Crear…” was managed. We corrected mistakes, we knew better what we wanted to record, we recorded in ADAT, which was already a tape system but digital, in 24 channels, we used the same guitars but plugged into a Marshall JCM 900, the sound is pure from that equipment, with some equalization from the soundboard, you can clearly hear it in the sound.
Mario and I knew each other because I started taking singing lessons with him. Guido put us in touch because he had a mutual friend with Mario, and I needed to work on my voice so I could sing my own way without damaging my vocal cords. Mario had formed Devenir, and when we recorded “Crear…”, it was impossible not to ask the best Metal singer in Argentina to participate in the album, and he nailed the vocals on the first take, which was awesome.”
The album “Escenarios” is a collection of live recordings of the band at different times. How did you manage that and how did you select the takes?
“Escenarios” are cassettes, those rectangular things with tape on which you could listen to music, almost extinct today in the age of streaming, haha! We recorded the shows on cassettes from the console so we could listen to them and correct things for future shows, and we realized the energy that was captured in the live performance, and that gave us the idea to think about a live album with an unreleased song that never saw a recording studio, which is the one we did with Guille and Mauro from “Conciencia Colectiva,” now called “No inerte,” and we chose the classic songs that sounded good. Then we went to the studio to balance the volumes, compression, and mastering, obviously.”
Are you planning to reissue your entire discography? As you know, the three albums are currently out of print. In that case, are you thinking about remastering them? Any bonus tracks?
“Not for now. What we did was upload our entire discography to streaming platforms so that anyone who wants to can access our music.”
After that, we didn’t hear anything from the band, except for different songs that were released on social media… Why is that? Are there any plans to release a full album in physical format again? How is the recording going and when can we expect to hear more?
“Well, I kind of jumped the gun a little bit when I answered this question earlier. None of the members of Lázaro make a living from music. We all have jobs that take up a lot of our time, in addition to the time we devote to our families, church activities, etc. Plus, Guido moved back to the province of Misiones, which means we don’t get to spend as much time together. People often have to make family decisions that limit the time they have for other activities, but that doesn’t stop us from continuing to do them, just at a slower pace. That’s why we did what we could do from a distance, which is to compose, record, and edit songs, taking advantage of the technology that allows us to do that.
The idea of an album is always there, but it’s still just an idea. Soon we’re going to release a cover of an international band that doesn’t resemble our style but that we really like, so we covered one of their songs and we’ll see what people think of it.”
One of the things that has always struck me is the band’s versatility, as musically they have gone through several styles and even genres. The conclusion is that Lázaro is clearly Hybrid Metal, as they don’t have a specific label, and judging by the latest songs they have released, firstly, they have nothing to do with anything that came before, and secondly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to define them! What are your current influences and what are your musical goals?
“We owe the term “Hybrid Metal” to Doble Filo, the band that included Ricky Záccara, Pini Navarro, and Diego Sotile. They used that term, and we adopted it because we thought it fit our style. Our current influences are much broader than they were 30 years ago (I say 30 years and it scares me, ha ha ha) because there have been many new bands during this time, but our influences range from the classics, Metallica, Tourniquet, Megadeth, The Crucified, King’s X, to Misfits, One Bad Pig, Slipknot, Pantera, Galactic Cowboys, to Sum 41, Neal Morse, Big Big Train, Rush. I went through a phase where I listened to a lot of tango, and I still do, and I think that even though I’m not aware of it, everything we listen to appears in our songs, maintaining the band’s signature style, the power, the riffs, the raspy vocals, the hardcore.”
I noticed that lately you’ve done several covers, in your own style, including those that pay tribute to BAHC (Buenos Aires Hardcore), and from what you’ve told us, there’s one coming up that has a lot to do with traditional heavy metal… Have you ever thought of doing a cover of something “unrelated,” that is, something that has nothing to do with metal or rock?
“Once, but it would have to be a song that says things that move us, and we would have to work on it well so that the essence of the song is maintained in our style. You never know what can happen with covers, haha.”
At one point, the band was playing with only one guitar, but then they went back to two guitars. Why did that happen, and why did you go back to the double guitar sound?
“We thought that I would feel freer to sing without having to think about doing both things, but my essence is to sing while playing and supporting Pablo (Parafioriti, lead guitar) and Javo (Javier Annikian, bassist) to have a really powerful foundation in the songs, so for quite some time now… we’ve been playing with two guitars!”
Beyond the Christian content of Lázaro’s lyrics, it is clear that over time the lyrical, poetic content of the songs has increased. What influences you in terms of what is told in each of the band’s songs and how did they evolve in that sense?
“Time passes, we’re getting old, as an old song said, forgive the redundancy, but if that passing time doesn’t make us wiser, it’s time wasted. We try to make the most of our time, our experiences, and our reading in order to write better lyrics. That’s where the influences come from. The Bible is my bedside book, and I can look there to tell a story, as in the case of “Dejando todo atrás” (Leaving Everything Behind) or “Silencios” (Silences) or “Volver a unir (En el valles de los huesos secos III)” (Reuniting (In the Valley of Dry Bones III)), or to describe how I feel when I am conscious of following Christ, as in ‘Encrucijada’ (Crossroads) or “Como” (Like). So that’s where the influences come from. We’re not so much about reflecting social reality like other bands do, but rather about being more introspective and interpretive when we sit down to write.”
You are one of the pioneering bands of so-called Christian Metal, or Metal with Christian content. Was that ever a problem for you as a band? I mean because of the prejudices that this issue sometimes generates among people who don’t share the Christian faith…
“Yes, especially in the beginning, when Metal talking about God was in its infancy in Argentina, although we have to thank Logos a lot for paving the way with what was left of V8. A path that would have been more difficult without V8. First with “El Fin De Los Inicuos” (The End of the Wicked), and then with Logos. For non-Christians, we were the ‘evangelists’ who pretended to be metalheads, and for churchgoers, we were the “Satanists” who pretended to be metalheads, ha ha ha! By the same interpretation, we were either one thing or the opposite. But it was also the result of a choice to play outside of churches and enter a music scene where we knew we could be rejected for believing in Jesus. That’s why we had to work even harder than other non-Christian bands, because more was expected of us, “let’s see what these Christians can play.” And we believe that the choice we made was the right one (yes, we have played in churches too, but it was never the first option) because it’s easier to go to the people than for the people to come to you.”
Are you aware that you have spent more than half your lives with Lázaro? How does that make you feel?
“We are aware of that, yes. Now that you mention it, it seems very serious, but when you do something you enjoy and it makes other people enjoy it too (as has happened with some who liked our art), it makes you want to keep making music, for ourselves, for those who expect something from us, to spread the message. It’s, in a way, our Matthew 28:19a, in our own style, with this music, saying it loud, shouting sometimes, but as long as we have the strength, we’ll keep going.”
Lázaro has always been an underground band, always fighting without record label support or producers, etc. Don’t you think the band deserves the attention that has always been denied it in many media outlets?
“Lázaro deserves nothing more than it deserves, and that has to do with many factors, including self-criticism. Why are some bands more popular, reach more people, get interviewed more, etc.? There’s a lot of work behind a band, behind an artist. The most important thing is the songs, but if no one listens to those songs, they just stay there, and maybe no one listens to them because they don’t work hard enough or because people don’t like them. Maybe people like metal, share our faith, but don’t like the songs, and that’s the end of the discussion.
Obviously, with good promotion, the songs reach more people, and with more people, there’s a better chance that more people will like them, but that doesn’t change the above. The members of Lázaro have made decisions with the band that surely affected (for better or worse) the band’s journey on the circuit and in the media. So there are many factors that led to some producers and the industry losing interest in the band, but in the midst of all that, we still have die-hard fans who always support us and encourage us to keep moving our bodies and minds to continue running the race.”
I’ll leave you the last space for whatever you want to convey to the readers and fans of the band…
“Thank you for your genuine interest, for all of you who follow us even when we are ‘hibernating,’ and we look forward to seeing you all on December 20 at the Marquee to meet again and experience an emotional and festive moment.
May God bless you in everything you do and may everything you do be within His will, which is pleasing and perfect.”
So now you know. Lázaro is back playing live. The date is December 20 at the Marquee, Scalibrini Ortiz 670, Buenos Aires, at 7 p.m., alongside Miguel Roldan, Barni, Oíd Mortales, and DBM. A great date to end the year. Tickets can be purchased in advance at 1150462372 and at https://https://anticipadas.net/
Our wish is that 2026 will bring many more performances by Lázaro, and why not, much more new music from them. As Hernán told us, and we anticipated at the time, the band is preparing to release a cover that will surprise many. We know about it, but the information is under embargo until its final and definitive release. We’ll just have to wait and see!!!!!
In the meantime, here are the coordinates to find Lázaro on social media, follow them, and be the first to hear the band’s latest news. We’ve also included a video clip of the song “Comunión” from the album “Crear o Reventar,” released in 2024…
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063657214082
https://www.instagram.com/lazaro.argentina
https://www.youtube.com/@Lazaro.Oficial.01
