Hailing from Melipilla, Santiago, Chile, Miskatonic Union has been conjuring heavy metal infused with the eerie cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft since 2014. With a sound that blends classic heavy metal with mystical themes of spiritual awakening, the band has carved a unique path in the underground metal scene. Signed to Iron Shield Records, they have unleashed powerful releases, including their full-length debut Astral Quest (2018), the EP The Usurper (2020), and their latest offering, Dark Passenger (2024), which has already garnered critical acclaim. In this exclusive email interview, we delve into their influences, creative process, and what lies ahead for Miskatonic Union.

Interview

TheNwothm: Hey there Miskatonic Union! Can you introduce the members of the bands and where you are from?

M.U: First of all we want to to say Hi to you and everyone who are reading this. We are Miskatonic Union from Chile, South America and we define our music as Heavy Metal. The members are: Carlos Retamales (drums), Raul Saá (vocals), Claudio Villa (guitar), Matias Lopez (guitar) and Paul Rajcevic (bass)

TheNwothm: So I understand you have been around since 2014! Can you tell our readers the story of how your formed?

M.U: We formed the band in 2014 in a city called Melipilla, near Santiago, the Capital city of Chile. We joined wanting to become a typical heavy metal band. Then we wrote some songs and all this were growing song by song to become what we are right now, its a long story but in the beginning all were friends and friends in common for say something so the formation worked very well.

TheNwothm: You are Melipilla, Santiago in Chile! Can introduced us to some of your countries culture and history?

M.U: Well about Melipilla we can say its 65 km to the west of Santiago… about our country we can say that is a mixture of Spanish and native culture. First natives were invaded by Spanish empire and then the people that born here fought against Spanish soldiers and became free. We are a free country since 1810.

TheNwothm: And what part has the country shaped your band?

M.U: Maybe we grow knowing our culture and were fed with freedom and no surrender speech. There’s a song in our first album (Astral Quest) tittled “Where is your nation now?” that tells how the spanish men arrived here and begun to kill natives and the resistance of them. 

TheNwothm: What do you think of Chile’s metal scene? Are there any bands from Chile that are making waves in the scene right now?

M.U: Of course, there are a lot of really good bands here doing very interest things and being better and more famous than us. For example there is a band called Inquisición, and they play a very well heavy metal sound. You can listen to actual bands like Lucifer’s Hammer, Merciless Law, Eternal Thirst, Acero Lethal, and many more that are doing it very well. And not only in Heavy Metal genre but in all kinds of metal music, we probably are the most metal country in South America we have death, Thrash and Black metal… a lot of good bands here.

TheNwothm: There seems to be a lot more heavy metal coming from South America these days! What do you think influenced that to happen? 

M.U: We think that Heavy Metal has never been dead. It only was underground in the past but now we have this re-rise of it and its almost like a new movement. If in England it was the new wave of British heavy metal here we can say that here is the new wave of South American heavy metal. We only pay tribute to all those bands that marked us through the years and we do the same they do. It’s for us the best way to do what we love and its a honour that our music could be listened to.

TheNwothm: As a band what kind of themes do you typically like to explore in your music?

M.U: We like to talk about anything, since the dark Lovecraft’s world, passing from History, dark stories, imaginary situations and more. We are opened to write about anything we consider interesting.

TheNwothm: So let us talk about your music! What can you tell us about your 2018 album “Astral Quest?” Do you remember much from writing and recording the record?

M.U: “Astral Quest” was our first album which gave us a lot of feedback. We didn’t know that album would opened a lot of doors for us. We knew that we had a well made album but we couldn’t imagine that very well received by people of a lot of parts in the world. We are proud of it.

TheNwothm: What kind of lyrical themes did you explore on the album and where did you take inspiration from?

M.U: Well the lyrics in some songs talk about the awakening of the mind, some Lovecraft’s books, history of our country and some trivial things too. Its not conceptual but every song was part of that quest of answers as thinking beings.

TheNwothm: And if you had to choose one track which would be your favourite?

M.U: Maybe not the favourite for everyone but there is a song titled “Road to the Mountains” of madness that is a very well written song about a book of HP Lovecraft that tells us that maybe we would not to explore some mysteries that are kept for the end of time.

TheNwothm: I see you are with Iron Shield Records! That is awesome so had did you land a record deal with the label?

M.U: Our first album “Astral Quest” was signed with Iron Shield Records and the deal was the distribution of our work in Europe and Japan. There are still some copies on the label and we would like to have another contract. Now we signed with Alone Records from Greece for our last album.

The Nwothm: In 2020, you released a three-track EP titled “The Usurper.” Given the challenges posed by the pandemic, did you encounter any difficulties while working on and putting together the EP during that time?

M.U: Those songs were written before pandemic, the idea of that album was to write our second album and it was about a Lovecraft story called “The thing in the doorstep,” a conceptual idea that we couldn’t finish at all because in the making of that we had some differences and one of our guitar player parted ways with us. So we recorded 3 of the 6 or 7 songs and we launched that as an ep with a chilean label, Savage Records.

The Nwothm: Moving away from the music for a moment, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves? Do you have any interesting hobbies outside of music?

M.U: We are just normal people with normal jobs and normal life wanting to show our love for heavy metal music. We would like to be more famous some day and be free to dedicate our lives to music but that is not for everyone. Maybe in the future we can reach it but for the moment we are trying to be more famous.

The Nwothm: And how do you balance music with life outside of music?

M.U: That’s a good question. We try to do our best but in our country only few people can live being musician. Despite our country is a very metal music listener our movement is, for saying something, underground. So we have to balance being musician and working. Is though and we don’t earn money with music. Everything is paid by us but we love what we do, so surrender is not an option.

The Nwothm: So last year you put out your second full length album “Dark Passenger!” When did you start writing songs fro that record and what kind of themes and ideas did you explore this time around?

M.U: We are working in this new album “Dark Passenger” since 2022 and this was hard because of the pandemic and because our country was in a very bad moment because of a social revolution so we had a lot of ideas but was hard to join and do something. In this album you can see lyrics about revolution, some dark stories and more of the essence of the band.

The Nwothm: Can you give us a bit of a track overview and highlight any key tracks from the record?

M.U: We want that this album would like everyone who likes heavy metal music. Of course there are some tracks that are our favourites but we want to hear and read from the fans what are your favourite songs. We think that every song in this album would like you a lot

The Nwothm: And how has the record been received by fans?

M.U: This album has liked a lot to fans, maybe because of the sound. We were compared to some bands and there were some comments about if its american, german or british heavy metal. Its fun to read comments and we like to receive all the possible feedback. Everything is well received.

The Nwothm: So now we are in 2025 what are your new years resolutions?

M.U: This year we want to be more known in the world but more important too, here in our country. We want to go and play every possible place and why not a South American tour.

The Nwothm: And thinking about shows, do you have any tours planned for this year?

M.U: This year we only will move in our country and we will see whats coming after. 

The Nwothm: Musically what is next for the band?

M.U: We are working on more songs, we have a lot of material and we are planning our third full length album… there are still Miskatonic for a couple albums more.

The Nwothm: Where can fans buy your music and merch?

M.U: You can buy our “Astral Quest” album directly in the page of Iron Shield Records and Dark Passenger in Alone Records webpage.

The Nwothm: And what social media channels do you have?

M.U: You can follow us in our facebook and Instagram channels, we are working on social media so we will have more to show you.

The Nwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

M.U: We would like to thank you for the interview and thank the fans for listen to us. We play for people who love Heavy Metal. Please support us!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miskatonicunion

Bandcamp: https://miskatonicunion.bandcamp.com/t

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKkURh0wzCKRwKcA7vcBnjA

IronShield Records: https://ironshieldrecords.de/

Alone Records: https://alonerecordsshop.com/