EPK – Manuel Barbara – Whisper in a Storm (2024)

EPK – Manuel Barbara – Whisper in a Storm (2024)

EPK – Manuel Barbara – Whisper in a Storm (2024)

Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com

“I believe that these four tracks are hands-down the best music I have made so far. I think people will really feel that this music has come into its own, and I am excited to move further in this direction in the future. I want this EP to be a heavy, slamming journey to four very distinct musical places, featuring some of my favorite musicians.” – Manuel Barbara

For fans of Monuments, Tesseract, Periphery, Meshuggah, Keith Merrow

Manuelbarbara.com | Facebook.com/8stringalchemy | Instagram.com/8stringalchemy  | Youtube.com/@8stringalchemy | Tiktok.com/@8stringalchemy

Linktr.ee/8stringalchemy | 8stringalchemy.bandcamp.com | Spotify | Apple Music

EP Title: Whisper in a Storm
Release Date: September 13, 2024
Label: Self-Published
Distribution: Distrokid
Track Listing:
1. Dead Hand (feat. Jody Miller) – 5:43
2. A Different Horizon (feat. Jake Howsam Lowe) – 5:49
3. Aphelion (feat. Michael Nystrom Bala) – 4:13
4. Whisper in a Storm (feat. Thalia Tymowski & Millisa Henderson) – 4:51
5. Whisper in a Storm (instrumental) – 4:51
EP Length: 24:42

EP Credits:
All songs written and performed by Manuel Barbará
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Manuel Barbará
EP artwork by Jason Grossman
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About The EP Artwork

Since Whisper in a Storm is about Blade Runner, I thought having some origami on the cover would be appropriate. I was considering just making it an origami unicorn, but I ended up settling on the eye.

About the EP as a whole (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY)

This EP is designed to be a strange, adventurous, expertly crafted punch to the face with just enough spacey ambiance to make it punch even harder and just enough big synths to make it feel like you might be stabbed with a katana under a neon sign.

Track by Track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY)

Dead Hand was the first of the four songs to come together. Heavily inspired by Monuments, it mainly features a big heavy riff that keeps returning with slightly different feels and that gives me an image of a big snake that you definitely don’t want to get in the way of. That riff gives way to all kinds of spacey ambiance and twisty strangeness. The ending riff is one of the heaviest and weirdest things I’ve ever written, and Jody’s scary violin textures tie the whole experience together.

A Different Horizon kicks off with an off-kilter riff in 3s that sets the tone for the rest of the song. There’s always something making you anticipate the next section. Jake’s brilliant solo is bookended by a massive melodic riff and the whole piece ends with a section that the bass player in Necronomicon ex Mortis described as “what in the Dark Souls haunted cathedral is this?”

Aphelion –  The original idea for this song was “What if I took a straightforward unga-bunga riff and made it weirder and weirder every time it happens”. The big stompy intro with slightly alien harmony goes through a process of transformation and fragmentation until it comes back to its original form and immediately falls apart again. The two solos, by myself and Mike, contrast one another very nicely.

Whisper in a Storm is the most “traditional” of the four songs with what is mostly a typical verse-chorus sort of structure. It still features odd expanding and contracting rhythms and huge stacks of guitars with Thalia’s powerful voice tying the whole thing together. The final bridge gives way to two melodic guitar solos and a final, crushing riff.

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STORY ANGLES – FUN FACTS
1. One of the sound effects in Whisper in a Storm is actually two kitchen knives scraping together.

2. I regularly find myself in the odd position of being metal teacher while being not abstract enough for classical teachers

3. I learned to play guitar on a 7-string. 6-strings feel like toys whenever I pick one up.

4. I feel like my music is a constant attempt to surprise myself with something. The trouble is, once I write it, it stops being surprising.

5. I played a show in Long Island a few months ago. It took 4 hours to get to the venue and I was 45 minutes late to my start time. My panic quickly disappeared when the other bands turned out to be an hour late to theirs.

Manuel Barbará is a metal guitarist and composer from the East Coast of the United States who combines the aggression and technical mastery of heavy metal with formal and harmonic concepts learned from the great composers of the 19th and 20th century. Trained at Berklee College of Music (2020, Guitar and Composition), Manuel brings his love of modern “classical” music and composition to bear on the progressive rock that has always inspired him. His compositions, whether for metal band or chamber ensemble, aim to unify these two disparate spheres of music.

His guitar playing is precise and disciplined and his compositions are carefully constructed pieces, full of ambiance and color. Talking about his music, Barbará says: “The purpose of music for me, after all the craft and technique and study are done, is to draw the listeners in and allow them to experience totally new worlds. The details of those worlds will be up to each individual person”.

His debut album “Moonrise” was released in March 2021 and returns in 2024 with his follow-up EP “Whisper In The Storm” out on September 13th.

Discography:
2024 – Whisper In The Storm – EP
2022 – Clockwork Soul (single)
2021 – Moonrise – 2021 – LP

Shared Stage:
Manuel Barbara also plays in bands:
– Necronomicon Ex Mortis
– Apocalyptic Sandwich of Doom (unreleased)

Opened for: Absurd Condition, Chris Cyanid, Jackpipe, Share the Burden, Feast Your Eyes, Sadha, The Shape it Takes, Eradicate, Krimson Mask, Hellswind