Ricardo Horacio Iorio (25 June 1962 – 24 October 2023) was an Argentine heavy metal singer and bassist.
Extremely nationalist, Iorio continuously proclaimed in his songs and in the media his pride in being Argentine and in Argentine history, and mixed native music styles such as tango, Indian and gaucho culture with the heavy metal base of Almafuerte.
While still young he was shocked by the sight of a biker with the aspects of heavy metal fashion, including long hair and a leather jacket.
Some of their first songs were "Voy a enloquecer", "Si puedes vencer al temor" and "Muy cansado estoy".
Pappo, leader of Riff, was trying to replicate the New wave of British heavy metal in Argentina and helped the bands V8 and Violadores.
[1] The band recorded the acclaimed "Luchando por el metal" and "Un paso más en la batalla", but had several internal problems from that point on.
[4] Finally, he formed the group Hermética with vocalist Claudio O'Connor, drummer Fabián Spataro and guitarist Antonio Romano.
[4] The name of the band is a reference to hermeticism; Iorio saw similarities between the hermetic doctrine and the context of the Argentine heavy metal.
The following full album, Ácido argentino, was certified gold, and the band played for Motörhead and Black Sabbath (with Ronnie James Dio) during their respective concerts in the country.
In 1993 they recorded the live album "En Vivo 1993 Argentina" at Stadium, and in 1994 they took part in the festival Monsters of Rock at the Estadio Monumental alongside Slayer, Kiss and Black Sabbath (with Tony Martin).
"Desencuentro" by Cátulo Castillo, a tango transformed into Heavy Metal, "De los pagos del tiempo" by José Larralde (presented by Hermética at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium), and V8's "Voy a enloquecer" with the original name and lyrics.
"Trillando la fina" was the last album of Almafuerte, and he only made sporadic works and concerts as a solo artist after that.
He felt pain in his chest and called for an ambulance, but died on the way, being declared dead when he arrived at the hospital.