Abstracted – Hiraeth
Release Date: 20th January 2026
Label: M-Theory Audio
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Death Metal, Extreme Metal.
FFO: Opeth, Vildhjarta, Between the Buried and Me.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Brazilian 6 piece progressive extreme act Abstracted is set to release their forthcoming LP Hiraeth on February 20th, bringing a blend of influences and styles that (the band states) come from Opeth, Vildhjarta, and Between The Buried and Me, something that I was looking forward to in the process of the review. Generally, I enjoy the progressive side of these types of albums, which certainly comes from the Opeth influences. However, it’s always fun to look at a review from a band who claims that they have Opeth as an influence, as that tends to give the possible listeners very little, kind of like citing David Bowie as an influence. Hiraeth is set to be released on M-Theory Audio.
The initial feeling of the album is that there is a blend of the progressive, in-time/out-of-time segments with musical and melodic instrumental vamps, bridges, intros and outros, but also stitched-together with hook-type choruses that take a lot of cues from metalcore. The main vocal style is varied, showing that Rosano Pedro Matiussi brings a large amount of subtle and overt variations to each part of the track, whether it’s deep harsh vocals (death metal) or the clean vocals (derived from the metalcore school of technique). It’s pretty obvious that these guys are going to be perfect for fans of the more intense and progressive sides of the metalcore or extreme metal genres, not necessarily fitting neatly into one genre.
Although, I’d have to say that the overall tone of the album lends itself, in majority, to progressive/melodic death metal than any attempt at being progressive or heavy metacore. I’m careful to say that, the attempted addition of the mere word “-core” to anything will make a comment thread start to get hostile. If anything, it’s a well-established genre that had definable characteristics and is old enough to be part of the influence structure for bands’ new projects. I’m not labeling anything here, but I just wanted to make sure that I’m being intellectually-honest about how some of the influences seem to come through.
One of the defining musical characteristics of the album is the addition of the synth and keys, which gives a broader dimension to the production. Having some vintage-style synth sounds, choirs, strings, and FX instruments can really make the difference in an album. Right now, it’s starting to work for a lot of bands like Blood Incantation and An Abstract Illusion, a couple of bands whose last albums were part of the AOTY lists for numerous reviewers in recent years. I certainly hope that the use of the keys’ dimensional-powers becomes more prevalent in circles outside of the progressive genres. That being said, it’s a strong part of the melodic section on Hiraeth.
Overall, I think that the album is pretty competent in the sense that there are a number of good tracks that bring the progressive tone. I think that the fans of progressive extreme metal are probably looking for something different than what Hiraeth offers, unless they are really looking for prog/extreme metalcore. I know that this is something which the fans of the album are going to disagree with, perhaps, but I think that there’s a group of people who will really be impressed with the stylized vocals. We live in a day and age where the merging of genres is something that is getting more traction all the time. If Hiraeth is taking the mantle up from bigger bands like Silent Planet, Blood Incantation, and Opeth, there’s a space for Abstracted, but I’m just not sure where it’s going to fit.
The sound is unique enough to be able to pick it out in a playlist, which is a good benchmark for any metal band. The album is well-produced and recorded, giving the blend of heavy-prog, but incorporates the stylized vocal element blend of the American metalcore clean vocals and modern death metal grit. If you are a fan of either, there’s elements of the album that will raise your attention. I can’t say that there’s a lot which I personally found to be my taste, but the album stands on its own feet, not dipping to anything that I would call below-average. I think that this is one which could go either way – an homage to this vocal style and era, or a sharp blend of genres in a genre-rich metal environment.
(2.5 / 5)
