Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Get to know Alterhyde, one of the Chilean bands nominated by Come To Latin America project to perform at Hellsinki Metal Festival
Chilean nü metalcore outfit AlterHyde has been selected by the Come To Latin America (CTLA) project as one of the Chilean bands nominated to perform at the Hellsinki Metal Festival, which will take place in the Finnish capital in August.
Come To Latin America has launched Metal Swap, a campaign that will promote the participation of a Chilean band (along with AlterHyde, Sobernot and Demoniac are nominated) at the Hellsinki Metal Festival (August 2024,Finland) and a Finnish band in CL.Rock (November 2024, Chile). Finnish acts will be nominated for CL.Rock in August 2024.
The main benefit of Metal Swap for the bands is international visibility and a campaign that creates a fan base for both Chileans and Finns before they even step foot in another country’s chamber. In Chile, the project is supported by Radio Futuro, one of the country’s biggest radio stations, and Rockaxis, the country’s biggest metal media.
The project will showcase new emerging bands in both countries during the campaign and create networking opportunities to start collaborations between even smaller bands with a low threshold. In addition to visibility and networking, Metal Swap offers all the bands in the project a total of four online workshops on internationalisation and career building.
AlterHyde‘s guitarist Cristian Alarcón comments on the nomination: “When our manager told us that we had been nominated by Come To Latin America, we were surprised and at the same time very happy because we knew what the Metal Swap band exchange was all about. And of course what it means to be able to play in Finland and have the opportunity to show our music. Also, all the press coverage that our nomination has brought: articles about AlterHyde have been published in various national and international media, and the number of streams on various digital platforms has increased. It’s all been very good for us: whether we win or not, we already feel like winners for having been nominated”.
AlterHyde is a modern nü metalcore band formed in 2012 by Cristián Alarcón and Luis Valenzuela, who a few years later, in 2014, released their first material, the single “Ecos”, which has its official clip, opening the doors to the Chilean music scene. The group is influenced by bands such as Architects, Bring Me The Horizon, Napoleon, In Flames, and Soilwork, among others, creating a brutal combination that has attracted thousands of people over the years, even participating in Army Fest 2022 and a large number of national stages that have been presented, leaving everything on them.
In 2017, the Chileans dropped their EP “Ataraxia”, which includes big hits like “Náufragos” and “Sombras“, for which they recorded an official video. In 2019 they released the single “Tiempos Violentos”, written during the pandemic. In 2021 came “Paradoja” and in 2022 “A.N.P.M.”, all in the form of singles and music videos. These last 3 are part of the Santiago-born outfit’s latest studio album, “Intercambio Equivalente”, released in May 2023.
“Intercambio Equivalente” is made up of eight powerful tracks that combine an engaging synthesis of metalcore, melodic death metal, nü metal and other styles with great creativity. The LP opens with the aforementioned “A.N.P.M” and then leads into the catchy “Libre”.
Next comes “Paradoja“, an aggressive, adrenaline-fueled speed bomb that is then pierced by In Flames-like riffs to explode into an incendiary breakdown and then into Architects-like territories. Also of note is “Crystals“, an instrumental track with expansive synths, dubstep beats and elements of electronica. On the same approach is “Fermi”, a song with no vocals, clean guitars and a melancholic atmosphere, but at the same time with signs of resilience. “Tiempos Violentos” begins as a pop-rock ballad, which collapses into a wall of sound as the singer screams: “Sientes que todo se derrumba, se desvanece como cenizas en el mar” (“You feel that everything is collapsing, disappearing like ashes in the sea”).
The album closes with “Girando”, which opens with a riff worthy of Animals As Leaders, then leads into a chorus of beautiful melodies, setting the scene for the ferocious phase that begins minutes later, with ripping vocals, an aggressive double bass beat and urgent riffs that sow chaos.
AlterHyde is made up of Diego Mesh (drums), Luis Valenzuela (bass), Cristian Alarcón (guitar), Nicolas Muñoz (guitar).
More about Come to Latin America:
The Come to Latin America (CTLA) project started in 2022 with a band competition, the winner of which, Where’s My Bible, successfully toured Latin America last year. In the same year, CTLA was also represented at the Nordic Business Forum with a presentation by Chilean CTLA judge Hernan Rojas. This year, Come to Latin America will focus on Chile and its huge heavy sound scene.
“Chile and Finland have a lot in common: two small countries in extreme conditions, on opposite sides of the world, with a long tradition of rock and metal,” says Niina Fu, founder of CTLA, who has lived in Chile for several years.
The project is also supported by Neural DSP, a Finnish music technology company that won the Finnish Export Company of the Year award, founded by Chilean-born Douglas Castro and Francisco Cresp. The company will donate a total of €6,000 worth of its products to selected Finnish and Chilean bands.