Calibrating Friction, by Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis

Calibrating Friction

by Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis

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Nathanael Larochette A stunning and singular achievement Favorite track: Never the Same River.

Leterren A wild orchestra flirting with Stravinsky-esque dissonance, jazz, and modern progressive metal. Endlessly fascinating. Favorite track: Flows Obsidian (feat. Javier Reyes).

Opposition Faust so Far a true masterpiece. the best of this 2023!!! Favorite track: Flows Obsidian (feat. Javier Reyes).

munstopher5 A remarkable blend of classical and prog metal influences, like if Shostakovich got into Animals as Leaders. Calibrating Friction feels like a true game changer for the way classical and prog interact. Favorite track: Of Beauty / Of Brutality (feat. Van Tilburg).

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
The physical copy is a 6-panel digipak with artwork by Nataliya Hines and in-depth liner notes by the composer.

Includes unlimited streaming of Calibrating Friction via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Calibrating Friction 09:13	buy track
2.	Flows Obsidian (feat. Javier Reyes) 10:40	buy track
3.	Never the Same River 09:30	buy track
4.	Unrelent 10:24	buy track
5.	Of Beauty / Of Brutality (feat. Van Tilburg) 12:03	buy track

about

Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis’s debut album Calibrating Friction unveils a muscular, pyrotechnic blend of progressive metal and symphonic classical music.

On September 15, 2023, The New York City-based, JUNO-nominated composer Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis will release his debut album, Calibrating Friction, via New Amsterdam Records. Stafylakis has been celebrated for his “ferociously expressive” (Times Colonist), and "dreamy yet rhythmic" (New York Times) “amalgamation of the classical music tradition [with] the soul and grime of heavy metal” (I Care If You Listen). Calibrating Friction serves as Stafylakis’s artistic mission statement and musical manifesto, showcasing a fusion of metal-influenced classical music and modern progressive metal.

On Calibrating Friction, Stafylakis, in collaboration with co-producer Adam Pietrykowski (Van Tilburg), re-imagines five of his most metal-influenced chamber compositions of the past decade from the perspective of bone-deep fusion. Stafylakis enhanced the inherent metal characteristics of his instrumental writing by injecting the arrangements with 8-string electric guitars, drums, and sundry aggressive timbres. The resulting sound world was then augmented with electronic elements, edited, and mixed by Pietrykowski, who treated it as a holistic sound object, transcending the individual pieces’ origins as live chamber music and re-casting Stafylakis’s masterful compositions through the lens of a modern progressive metal record.

Visceral, epic in scope, and grounded in a deep sense of rhythm and groove, the five pieces on Calibrating Friction invite the listener to undertake a journey through sprawling narrative soundscapes and interlocking musical structures. The record was brought to life by the virtuosic musicianship of the performers, a super-group of all-star players that includes members of Animals As Leaders, Leprous, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Sirius Quartet, seven)suns, American Brass Quintet, Contemporaneous, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

credits

released September 15, 2023

All tracks composed by Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis, except “Of Beauty / Of Brutality” composed by Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis and Adam Pietrykowski

Arranged by Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis and Adam Pietrykowski
Additional drum arrangements by Matt Grou
Guitar solos on “Flows Obsidian” composed by Javier Reyes

Produced by Adam Pietrykowski and Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis

Mixed & edited by Adam Pietrykowski

Mastered by Silas Brown at Legacy Sound (New York, NY)

Musicians:
Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis – guitars and programming
Van Tilburg (Adam Pietrykowski) – guitars and electronics, guitar solos on “Of Beauty / Of Brutality”
Javier Reyes – guitar solos on “Flows Obsidian”
Matt Grou – drums and percussion
Vicky Chow – piano
Fung Chern Hwei – violin and viola
Raphael Weinroth-Browne – cello
Tristan Kasten-Krause – double bass on “Flows Obsidian”
Evan Runyon – double bass on “Of Beauty / Of Brutality”
Tara Helen O’Connor – flute, alto flute, and piccolo
Ken Thomson – clarinet and bass clarinet
Kathryn Brooks – bassoon
Eric Reed – French horn
William Keats Lang – trombone
Toby Kuhn – additional percussion

Recording of all instruments (except drums, cello, bassoon, flute, and some guitars) by Adam Pietrykowski
Recorded primarily at Greenpoint Recording Collective (Brooklyn, NY), with assistance by Nate Jasensky; piano recorded at Lethe Lounge (Manhattan, NY), with assistance by Mark Ettinger, piano tuning by Kazuya Tsujio.
Drums recorded and edited by Matt Grou at Matt Grou Productions (Montréal, QC)
Cello recorded and edited by Raphael Weinroth-Browne (Ottawa, ON)
Flute recorded and edited by Tara O’Connor (New York, NY)
Bassoon recorded by Andrew Yankiwsky, Paul Blandford, and Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis at Precursor Productions (Winnipeg, MB)
Guitars recorded and edited by Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis (Manhattan, NY), Adam Pietrykowski (Greenwich, CT), and Javier Reyes (Los Angeles, CA).

All music published by Staves Obsidian Music (ASCAP), all rights reserved.
Sheet music is available at: www.hstafylakis.com

Artwork by Nataliya Hines, concept by Nataliya Hines and Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis
Graphic design & layout by Evan Nolan

Photography by Moo Jae (intothestory), Toby Kuhn, Nataliya Hines, Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis, and Adam Pietrykowski

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about

Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis New York, New York

New York City-based, JUNO-nominated composer-guitarist Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis is “an amalgamation of the classical music tradition and the soul and grime of heavy metal” (I Care If You Listen), “favoring doomsday chords and jackhammer rhythms” (The New Yorker).

He has collaborated with the likes of Animals As Leaders, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Roomful of Teeth, and orchestras around the world. ... more

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