The djent and metalcore band abstracts has returned from its indefinite hiatus which commenced back in 2019. So far, two digital singles have been released, the familiar Siena, and the latest work New Breed which is described as a “mixture of sound that breaks the walls between genres”.
In July—without any kind of heads up—abstracts republished the song Siena as a stand-alone single featuring vocals by Al Boltz. The song was previously instrumental-only and can be found in the debut self-titled album. At this point, there was no solid information about the state of the band, except that they released the single under a different record label, Theoria Records.
Today, however, abstracts has officially dropped its first new song, a single called New Breed which quickly hit the number one spot on iTunes Japan’s “Metal Top Song” chart. It was only when the digital pre-order went up, on September 7, that the band officially declared its return via its accompanying description.
abstracts, a Japanese djent and metalcore band who entered an indefinite hiatus in 2019, has finally returned and is now releasing their latest work “New Breed”. It’s a song which provides a mixture of sound that breaks the walls between genres, featuring the members LYNN and SHVNA—who are currently also active in the trap, hip-hop, R&B indie scene. The entire production process of this single was completed by the members themselves, as a result of their DIY skills.
With a refined hardcore sound delivered already at the band’s inception, which was recognized by Periphery and TesseracT members themselves, and their fearless desire to face new challenges to continuously sow new fresh seeds, makes them pioneers of the Japanese music scene.
Unlike Siena, New Breed was released under the independent record label “COOL KIDS NEVER SLEEP” (CKNS), where LIN normally releases his trap, hip-hop, and R&B music.
Even with the teaser shared ahead of its release, we weren’t exactly sure what to expect from the band anymore, considering their multiple iterations of its line-up, and change in sound.
To be honest, even after listening to the full song, it’s difficult to know which direction the band—formerly recognized as a leading unit in the djent and metalcore scene—will be taking further ahead. This is considering the part about how composer and guitarist LIN (also known as LYNN, formerly in NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST), and vocalist SATOKEN (also known as SHVNA), are now active in the R&B indie space. In fact, they’re working together to produce music in that scene too.
There’s definitely a lot of its influence seeping into abstracts’ new work and you can listen to it yourself right here:
abstracts, a band formed in 2014 by composer and guitarist LIN, was at the forefront of the djent and metalcore scene. Debuting with its self-titled album in the same year, it featured guest vocalists from the doujin space like Shoohey, but also a well-respected guest guitarist Mark Holcomb from the American progressive metal band, Periphery.
A year later, in 2015, the band started to take shape when the members of the band were unveiled for the first time and announcing its first permanent vocalist Kaz (also known as Hellnear). Through this five-man line-up, abstracts released its second album HOLOGRAM in March 2016.
Unfortunately, the band was left with only members LIN and the bassist MIKI not long after having released HOLOGRAM, but fortunately, gained a new vocalist SATOKEN instead.
SATOKEN and MIKI would eventually decide to depart from the band, leaving only LIN as the sole member. They played their last show on April 28, 2019, before going on hiatus.
LIN moved on to join NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST during the transition of abstracts going into hiatus. He entered as a guitarist and helped compose the album UNLEASH, although, he didn’t stick around for more than six months due to getting arrested for possession of cannabis, leading to his departure.
After the event of the arrest, LIN moved on to producing music for R&B and hip-hop artists and at times joined in as a featured artist. Together with former drummer Hikari Shimamura, LIN recently produced SATOKEN’s first EP LOVELESS.
- Siena (feat. Al Boltz)
- New Breed