Blaxem, the modern metal band from Chile, serve up a raucous monster-mesh of hard driving crunch n’ burn with their new EP Ethereal. Listeners will rejoice in this glorious journey through the underworld of gut-wrenching riffs and long shadowed caverns, thunderous drums and old stone corridors lit only by the dim and damp glow of torches flickering along the stories of the shattered world written on the walls in dark blood. The bass guitar is lethal phantom, banging in the attic, knocking about in the tool shed, pounding under the cellar stairs, and the growl vocal rips open your soul, raising haunted angels from the red mist to sing you a death knell.
That said, Ethereal by Blaxem is amazingly uplifting in its passion, its power, and the unadulterated rawness of the musical presentation. More specifically, track to track, listeners will notice clever, non-linear songwriting chock full of twists, turns, and satisfying surprises as well as lead guitar performances that would bend our hearts to the breaking point and dazzle our senses with such intricate, power-shredding that one stands amazed that so many sweet notes could fit in one measure. As for overall theming, the band seems to illustrate world-culture as a pilgrimage of starless gloom through which we overcome our lack of purpose and direction through truth, strength, and empathy. More categorically, we are shown in the focus track, “Grey Summit” that our sight, hauntingly manipulated by artificial stimulation, is a world for us to conquer. In “Miscellaneous”, it is implied that when the media makes malevolence a virtue, we must reach inside to regain personal ownership, and in the title track, “Ethereal,” it is said that ethereal myths can be lies, and those self-same lies cannot buy the sky.
Blaxem are Dann Hidalgo (vocals and guitar), Guille Malatesta (lead guitar), Chelo Romanini (bass and backing vocals), and Robert Unger (drums). Concurrently, Dann is the audio engineer for the band who records, produces, mixes and masters the songs, all artwork is created by Hakeen Mishea, and in terms of Ethereal, it is all about personal honesty, about never losing the soul of a song nor bargaining away our souls for the sale. Ethereal is about truth. Ethereal by Blaxem brings heavy metal back to the forge, retooling it into a new kind of statement.
Watch the music videos for the three singles off the album, “Miscellaneous“, “Grey Summit“, and “Ethereal“.
Ethereal by Blaxem was produced by Dann Hidalgo and Guille Malatesta, engineered & mixed by Dann Hidalgo, and mastered by Hakeen Mishea. The album cover art was designed by Hakeen Mishea. The album was released on May 16, 2025 by Eclipse Records.
