Armando Acosta

Armando Acosta
Background information
Birth Name	Armando Javier Acosta
Alias	Mando Armando Zuniga
Born	23 September 1952, Los Angeles, California
Died	25 November 2010, San Pedro California
Occupation	Musician, Airman First Class
Genres	Doom Metal, Punk Rock, Hard Rock, Speed Metal
Instrument(s)	Drums
Years active	1978 - 1996, 2003, 2008 - 2009
Labels	SST Records, Hellhound Records
Associated acts	Saint Vitus, Dirty Red, Tactics
Website	Myspace

Armando Acosta was a musician born in Los Angeles, California, best known as a founding member of the pioneering doom metal band Saint Vitus. With his large, imposing presence, hammering drum style and often wearing a leather warhelm on stage, Acosta's heavy metal style would compliment the band's punk rock ethos, performing through the entirety of the band's first run and briefly participating in the band's 2003 and 2009 reunions.

Biography

• For more details feel free to view the Riffipedia page on Saint Vitus.

Acosta was born in 1952.The eldest son of Jeronimo Calderon Acosta and Elia Cornejo Acosta, he grew up in West Los Angeles, attending Webster Junior High and Venice High School. He married high school sweetheart, Gloria Rubio, and enrolled in the Air Force as an Airman First Class. Some years later he would join Tyrant in 1978 with Mark Adams and Dave Chandler. Later recruiting a singer in Scott Reagers, Saint Vitus would officially form in 1979. The band would play their first live show in August 1979. Greg Ginn of Black Flag would sign the band to SST, a label that typically had hardcore punk bands.

The original lineup would take recordings in 1982 and release them as Saint Vitus in 1984 with a follow-up album and EP in Hallow's Victim and The Walking Dead in 1985. The band toured with Black Flag in December 1984 with one tour spanning 45 shows in 46 days. Initially with their long hair and slower sound the band dealt with hostile punk audiences but by the time they toured again in '85 they won a lot of crowds over.

At some point in 1985, the band got word of Scott Weinrich via The Obsessed through tape trading. Reagers would offer him the vocal role and Weinrich would move to California to join the band. Wino would move to L.A. and join the band in early 1986, with his first performance with the band being on 16 May that year at the Palm Springs Community Center. Around the same time that year the band would record their third album (and first with Wino), releasing Born Too Late in October. This record has proven to be a seminal record in the makings of doom metal and the title track an iconic Vitus song. The band would tour in support of the album in 1986. As a nod to Black Flag and the band that got their start on the road, they would cover one of their songs and release it as the Thirsty and Miserable EP in 1987.

The band's fourth album Mournful Cries would follow in 1988, proving to be their final release with SST Records. Learning of an overseas fanbase, Vitus would sign with German label Hellhound Records. The band would tour Europe for the first known time in 1989 and follow-up with a tour of the country again in 1990. In the meantime the band released their fifth album V and their first live album Live in 1990. Following their 1990 European Tour Wino would leave the band to re-form The Obsessed. With new singer Christian Linderson the band would write a new album and release C.O.D. in 1992. However with mixed reactions and frustrations with the music scene as a whole, Saint Vitus would opt to reunite with Scott Reagers to compose one final album: 1995's Die Healing.

Following Saint Vitus' breakup in 1996 Acosta would remain active with a handful of bands, namely the speed/thrash metal band Tactics and the band Dirty Red, whom he'd start playing with in 1996. He'd return for two shows as part of the 2003 Saint Vitus reunion in Chicago, Illinois and at With Full Force Festival in Germany. Saint Vitus would reform in 2008 after the dissolution of Debris Inc. along with an offer to perform a headlining performance at the 2009 edition of Roadburn Festival with the same lineup as the 2003 reunion. However following a short string of shows he would be let go from the band due to ongoing health issues, followed by conflicts between Acosta and guitarist Dave Chandler on Myspace. Acosta's last performance with the band would be in Stuttgart, Germany on 29 April 2009. Henry Vasquez would take over the drum role starting with Saint Vitus' appearance at Hellfest that summer.

Bands

• Tyrant - Drums (1978 - 1979)
• Saint Vitus - Drums (1979 - 1996, 2003, 2008 - 2009)
• Tactics - Drums (Unknown Time Period)
• Dirty Red - Drums (1996 - 2010)

Personal Life

The eldest son of Jeronimo Calderon Acosta and Elia Cornejo Acosta, he grew up in West Los Angeles, attending Webster Junior High and Venice High School. He married high school sweetheart, Gloria Rubio, and enrolled in the Air Force as an Airman First Class. He had a single son, Jerry, and four grandchildren in life. He was fascinated by seafaring lore of pirates and Vikings and collected replicas of period piece weaponry. Outside of music he was also known as a "gentle giant" who would be known for helping stray cats and friends in need.

In the late 2000s Acosta had been dealing with various health issues. Acosta died on the morning of 25 November 2010 (Thanksgiving Day) and he would be interred with an Honor Guard Farewell at Riverside National Cemetery on 8 December 2010. Along with the band offering dedicating their December 2010 tour to his memory, numerous publications would offer tributes to the late drummer.

Selected Discography with Saint Vitus

• Saint Vitus (1984, SST)
• Hallow's Victim (1985, SST)
• Born Too Late (1986, SST)
• Mournful Cries (1988, SST)
• V (1990, Hellhound Records)
• C.O.D. (1992, Hellhound Records)
• Die Healing (1995, Hellhound Records)

External Links

• / Discogs
• Obituary