The Brazilian progressive death metal act ABSTRACTED – whose sound blends the blistering technicality of acts such as Obscura and Edge of Sanity with moments evoking the melodic side of bands such as Opeth and Fates Warning - will release their debut full-length album “Atma Conflux” on Friday, April 15th. The album will be released by M-Theory Audio. Pre-orders for CD and digital editions of “Atma Conflux” - as well as the reveal of the album cover by Brazilian artist Carlos Fides from Artside Studio (Evergrey, Kamelot) - are available at https://smarturl.it/abstracted.
The band describes the concept of “Atma Conflux” as “a deep dive into the mind and soul of 'the nameless man.' We decided to use the concept of a character without a name so that everyone who listens the album can project themselves under the skin of what he's going through. 'Atma Conflux' is mainly about the journey of a man who lost everything and decides to take his own life. When he is about to do it, two ethereal entities appear to him on a mirror image, which we called 'The Lunar Body' and 'The Solar Body,' which are both a Tibetan Buddhism reference of what they call 'Tulpa.' The 'Tulpas' dispute his soul through the whole story. The 'Lunar Body' tries to break it, while the 'Solar Body' tries to mend it. We've drawn lots of references towards all-things esoteric that we could find, merging Buddhism, Gnosis, and Hinduism with a contemporary view of a man that blames himself for the death of his wife, the one that always supported and loved him, even with him being not the kindest person all the time. It's a story about redemption, but mostly about self-knowledge above all.”
ABSTRACTED began recording their debut full-length, “Atma Conflux,” in 2018, and continued writing, crafting, and producing the record throughout 2019 and 2020. The new album sees the group – which recently welcomed keyboardist Carol Claro – integrating synthesizers and orchestral keyboards into their already-expansive sound. The first taste of the scintillating sounds to be found on “Atma Conflux” was revealed in the beginning of 2021 with the music video for “Decree of Sunlight,” featuring guest vocalist Mike Semesky (Interloper, Raunchy), which can be viewed at https://youtu.be/msJX0ZQzeiM. The band followed that up during the summer of 2021 with a music video for their second single, “Wither to Dust,” which can be viewed at https://youtu.be/ANTY2tDgEiQ. ABSTRACTED most recently unveiled a performance video for “Between Samsara and Samadhi” at https://youtu.be/VU1zTDIFbw4.
ABSTRACTED was formed in the band's hometown of Sao Paolo, Brazil in 2014. The group was initially birthed from the ashes of Nyth, a previous band that Rosano Matiussi (vocals/guitars) and Alexandre Dantas (drums) had been involved with. After their first live performance – rounded out by guitarist Guilherme Nolasco and then-bassist Allan Lordaro – the new group entered the studio to record an album showcasing a sound that was birthed by a love for bands that balanced metallic intensity with a propensity to stretch the progressive boundaries of the genre.
ABSTRACTED took their name from a song by Swedish melodic death metal greats Scar Symmetry. Influences from other European acts such as Necrophagist and Gojira, American bands such as The Faceless and Between The Buried And Me, and genre giants such as Death and Coroner all formed the basis for the sound that the band explored on their thrilling 2015 debut EP, “Ophidian.” The recording saw new bassist Riverton Vilela enter the picture and featured guest appearances from Allegaeon guitarists Michael Stancel and Greg Burgess. The group continued to build their name in the years that followed while balancing scholastic pursuits with live appearances on festivals throughout their native country.
With their lineup now fully solidified, live performances imminent soon, and the impending release of “Atma Conflux,” ABSTRACTED is poised to unleash their sound to the masses in 2022. More information on ABSTRACTED and “Atma Conflux” will be revealed in the weeks to come.