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Buenos Aires, Argentina · 1967 — present

Vox Dei

Vox Dei was not a band that settled for sounding like any other. From their early days in Quilmes, in Greater Buenos Aires, the group sought their own sound, blending the weight of rock with lyrics in Spanish that spoke of something more than love or parties. The name itself came by accident: after a show at the Macu venue, producers Jorge Álvarez and Pedro Pujó proposed they record for the Mandioca label, but with one condition: to sing in Spanish. Thus, overnight, they went from being Mach 4 to Vox Dei, and their first single, Azúcar amargo —the Spanish version of Bitter Sugar— put them on the map. The B-side, Quiero ser, was written and recorded in that same 1969 session, with no time for more.

The definitive leap came in 1970 with Caliente, their first album. There, they not only included Presente (El momento en que estás), a song that over the years became an anthem of Argentine rock, but also Canción para una mujer (que no está), another piece that remained in the band’s repertoire. The record positioned them alongside Almendra and Manal as part of that handful of groups defining what Spanish-language rock was. Their performance at the Teatro Ópera, with Arco Iris and Alma y Vida as guests, was a critical success, and months later, at the first B.A. Rock festival, they already hinted at what was to come: La Biblia.

1 Albums
8 Songs
53K Listeners/mo

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Essential songs

1 album|s · 1971

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Biography

That 1971 album was more than just an album: it was a bold project, a concept record based on biblical texts that no one in Argentine rock had attempted before. Recorded under precarious conditions, with borrowed equipment and no time to polish details, it ended up being one of the band’s most celebrated works. Tracks like Libros sapienciales —which years later, Rolling Stone magazine and the site Rock.com.ar would rank among the best in Argentine rock— proved that Vox Dei didn’t follow trends, they created them. Their sound, with Ricardo Soulé’s and Willy Quiroga’s guitars moving between blues and hard rock, and lyrics that explored the spiritual without falling into the religious, made them unique. Even Luis Alberto Spinetta, present at one of their shows, asked them why they didn’t sing in Spanish if they had so much to say. The answer came with Azúcar amargo, and later, with La Biblia.

Details

Born
1 Jan 1967
Country
🇦🇷 Argentina
Genre
Progressive rock

Members

bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals, founder · 1967–2017
Willy Quiroga
guitar, founder · 1967–2013
Juan Carlos “Yodi” Godoy
guitar, harmonica, vocals, piano, violin, founder · 1967–2013
Ricardo Soulé
backing vocals, membranophone, percussion, founder · 1967–2010
Rubén Basoalto
electric guitar, vocals · 1974–1975
Carlos Michelini
electric guitar · 1971–1971
Nacho Smilari