In progressive rock’s mythology, we often speak of the classical influences that have nourished the music of the genre’s greatest bands. With Calibrating Friction, Greek-Canadian composer Haralabos Stafylakis attempts to turn the pendulum back with chamber music compositions strongly inspired by progressive metal.
In classical music, the use of rhythms and melodies as material for orchestral works has been common practice for over two centuries. The sound of classical music infused with Hungarian folklore is well known from the works of Zoltan Kodaly and his descendants. In the 21st century, the same phenomenon is naturally occurring with a new guard of artists who, despite their advanced studies in instrumental composition, have grown up with so-called “popular music.” Haralabos Stafylakis offers a convincing example of this phenomenon with his new release at the intersection of metal and classical. Totaling almost an hour, Calibrating Friction brings together five pieces of heavy, technical instrumental music. Of all the metal hybrids to have emerged from the classical milieu, this album is one of the most assertive exercises in the field.
The pieces, whose structures develop like long progressive rock tunes, are riddled with jerky rhythmic cells and dark melodies. The works make cheerful use of drums and guitars, to the point where you might sometimes confuse them for chamber orchestra arrangements of metal music. To achieve such a blend, the composer must have an almost equal mastery of both musical languages, as well as a respect for the two associated cultural realities. Himself a rock and metal guitarist before becoming a classical composer, Stafylakis seems to reconcile these two worlds most naturally.
