Chile’s heavy music landscape has been steadily growing over the past decade, with new bands emerging from regions outside Santiago and carving out their own space. One of the most compelling names in that wave is Embrace the Misery, a metallic hardcore band from the coastal city of Valparaíso. Formed in mid-2019, the group came together with a clear intention: to play heavy, dark, uncompromising hardcore and earn a place in both their local and national scenes.
The band began writing demos almost immediately, but like the rest of the world, their early momentum was interrupted by the arrival of COVID. “We had to start working from home,” guitarist Flavio Muñoz explains. “Sending demos by email, writing ideas from our computers.” Despite the shutdown, the band kept their vision moving forward, refining material throughout lockdown. By late 2021, after the world slowly reopened, Embrace the Misery entered Piedra Sónica Studio with producer Pedro Fariña to record their first EP. That effort, A Light Vanishing in Life, was released in May 2022 to excellent reviews and quickly helped cement the band as one of Chile’s strongest new heavy acts.
After touring various cities across the country, Embrace the Misery returned to the studio to record a standalone promo track, “Ciego en el Umbral.” This year, they followed it with their newest single and music video, “La Eterna Sombra,” the first look at their next EP set to drop in 2026. Notably, the band took full creative control over the video. “We shot it entirely ourselves, in a DIY concept,” Muñoz says. “We like horror movies, and we wanted something dark and severe, just like our music.” The video marks the band’s first official visual work and aligns seamlessly with their aesthetic.
Musically, Embrace the Misery leans heavily into metallic hardcore, drawing on the crushing weight and emotional intensity of bands like Disembodied, On Broken Wings, Boundaries, and Year of the Knife. “We’re characterized by our heavy sound: violent breakdowns, fast riffs, big and crazy drums,” Muñoz says.
The band pairs that aggression with dark, metaphorical lyrics, mostly centered around internal conflict and psychological struggle. “La Eterna Sombra” dives directly into those themes, exploring what Muñoz describes as “the internal and mental struggle against the personal shadow—pain or trauma.” The lyrics were written by vocalist Pablo Valencia, whose stark imagery adds another layer of depth to the band’s sonic assault.
Valparaíso’s scene itself is thriving, and Embrace the Misery is quick to highlight other local acts worth paying attention to. “In our city there are many bands making great hardcore,” Muñoz says, shouting out Alarma, Pareidolia HxC, and One Foot as standout names. It’s a reminder that Chile’s heavy music community extends far beyond its capital—and that cities like Valparaíso are waving the flag for metalcore in South America.
Before closing, Muñoz expresses gratitude for all the support the band has received: “We want to shout out and thank all the people, friends, and family who have supported and believed in this project since day one—those who attend our shows, and those who listen and share our music.”
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Embrace the Misery on social media: Instagram
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