Doom from the end of the world: Australness, Chilean sadness and the metaphor of the end of the world in Chile’s doom metal scene

This article explores the unique interplay between geography, culture and aesthetics within the Chilean doom metal scene, focusing on the concepts of australness, Chilean sadness and the metaphor of the end of the world. It examines how these elements articulate discourses and sonic productions that are deeply embedded in doom metal’s aesthetic lexicon. The article is structured into four main sections. First, it offers a general characterization of Chilean doom, addressing the history of the scene and the discourses that position its sound within an international context. The second section introduces the concept of australness and its thematic corollaries – such as isolation and sadness – as culturally embedded features of Chilean doom metal. The third section analyses the metaphor of the end of the world, situating it within geographical, but also historical and eschatological frameworks. Finally, the article explores the role of Chilean doom’s Indigenous imaginaries from the Southern Cone, considering their incorporation into the music as a reflection on the end of the world through the lenses of genocide and cultural erasure. The Chilean doom metal scene weaves the notions of australness, sadness, and the end of the world into a distinctive framework, in which isolation and grief are not merely geographical, but above all cultural and experiential concerns.