Track By Tracks: Manuel Barbará - Whisper In A Storm (2024)

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):

1. Dead Hand:

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.

2. A Different Horizon:

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?”

3. Aphelion:

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 Mike and me, contrast one another very nicely.

4. Whisper In A Storm:

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.