Genre/Influences: Electro, Ambient-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Memoirs” is the third album by Greek artist Manos Zafirakis. The album comes three years after “Kilonova”.

Content: Iris Manta hasn’t really changed the sound formula from previous albums. It remains a sound influenced by early Electronic pioneers, reminding me of JM Jarre, Tangerine Dream and co. The songs feature an astral sound dimension created by the typical old-styled Psychedelic leads. The album features 6 songs, which all are instrumental edits. 

+ + + : The compositions of Iris Manta remain well-crafted and elaborated with subtle sonic details. Melody lines are more accentuated than on the previous work. I get the impression of listening to a refreshed version of Tangerine Dream. The analogue sound treatments and –effects have this unique touch of magic.  

– – – : I personally experienced this work as a bit more ‘cliché’ than its predecessor. It’s a sound we’re familiar with for years so the songs become a bit predictable after a while.

Conclusion: If you like the early pioneers of Electronic music, you definitely are going to like this work.

Best songs: “Misguided”, “Tiny Distractions”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Iris-Manta-767551936654269

About Iris Manta

Iris Manta is the solo project of Greek musician Manos Zafirakis, who writes, programs, records, mixes and produces the material himself. Side-Line reviewed the debut CD album Mental Equations, self-released on 24 December 2014, in June 2015 and profiled the project in the January 2016 Face The Beat piece Side-Line introduces Iris Manta – listen now to ‘Entropia’.

The second album “Kilonova” (2018), described as an attempt to translate astronomical events into music, was reviewed in November 2018. In March 2021 Side-Line reported that Iris Manta ready to shop new album to record labels. “Memoirs” was released on 18 April 2021 on CD and as a download. Zafirakis writes on Bandcamp that each of the six instrumental tracks relates to a period of his life; they are “Tiny Distractions”, “Pessimism Probability”, “Exaggeration”, “Sadness Vapors”, “Misguided” and “Peaceful Erasures”. Panos Bothos mastered the album.

The two-track release “Wacko” followed on 1 February 2024. “Memoirs” is the third Iris Manta album.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Iris Manta has recently completed its third album and is now in search of a record company for a possible release, in contrast to the previous two albums which had been self-released through various platforms online.

Iris Manta is the project of Manos Zafirakis. The project’s debut album “Mental equations” was released in 2014. The follow-up album “Kilonova” was released 4 years later. In both albums you’ll see a mix of influences, from ambient, space ambient, dark ambient, synthwave, dreampop, but also darkwave.

The project was featured on our most recent “Face The Beat 6” compilation with the track “Inverted Aeons” as you can hear below.

Previous releases from Iris Manta

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Background/Info:

About Iris Manta

Iris Manta is the solo electronic project of Greek multi-instrumentalist Manos Zafirakis. Before starting Iris Manta, Zafirakis co-founded the band Emerald, which released the albums “Under The Veil Of Eternal Heaven” and “Images From A Perfect Passion.” Iris Manta’s debut album, “Mental Equations,” appeared in 2014, four years before “Kilonova.” By the time its track “Inverted Aeons” featured on Side-Line’s “Face The Beat: Session 6” compilation in 2021, Zafirakis had completed a third Iris Manta album and was searching for a label to release it.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Track 34 on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 3” is by Iris Manta. “Entropia” is an instrumental track which is clearly rooted in the era when instrumental only bands such as Jean-Michel Jarre were mainstream. You’ll notice though that the Iris Manta material has a more synth poppy electro touch which could clearly have vocal lines on it.

You can listen to the track below:

Iris Manta is the personal project of Manos Zafirakis. Manos is a multi instrumentalist handling guitars and synths, something he used when he co-founded Emerald, a band that offered a variety of instruments and music styles. The group released two albums, “Under the veil of eternal Heaven” and “Images from a perfect passion”.

Over the years, Manos focused more on his own music programming, recording and mixing, and for the past 5 years, he has been making electronic music in an attempt to determine his own personal style.

The outcome of this style is Iris Manta with his debut, that is a purely electronic album, entitled “Mental equations”. The basic influential source of the creator in the composition of the tracks is his profound love for space and the laws that determine it. It reminds older decades and it is a mixture of different sounds. “Mental equations” is a self funded album, available online (itunes, amazon etc), and in CD.(digipack).

Those who wish to order, may contact to: irismanta@hotmail.com , you can find more info on his Reverbnation page.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Space-pop, electro-pop, cinematographic.

Content: Iris Manta is the musical creation of Greek artist Manos Zafirakis who was contaminated by the music virus some 20 years ago now. He started playing guitar and became involved in a band called Emerald. He progressively became interested in electronics and started to experiment with synthesizers, effects, microphones ao.

“Mental Equations” is the debut album of the Iris Manta project on, which you instantly will notice the omnipresent ‘space’ presence. Zafirakis indeed is really fascinated by the creation of space atmospheres, which are the main basis of this work. It not only is an evasive and relaxing trip through enjoyable electronic creations, but this sound also has a strong cinematographic appeal.

The typical astral sound waves mixed with slow rhythms and warm synth layers feel like an imaginary space walk. Some rare robotic (vocoder) vocals can be heard right in the beginning, which only accentuates the global impression of ‘space-electronics’. This artist clearly appears to be a passionate sound creator, which comes through in some of the bass lines, and also in the numerous sophisticated bleeps.

The style of this music clearly reminds me of famous pioneers in the genre like J.M. Jarre. The composition is well-crafted and sophisticated revealing several beautiful songs. I can’t get away from the idea that this work would be the perfect soundtrack for a movie and/or documentary while a live performance accompanied by a strong visual content would be cool as well.

Conclusion: Iris Manta brings us back to the origins of electronic pioneers. You can literally feel the love of this artist for electronic music inspired by the magic of space.

Best songs: “Subatomic”, “Mental Equations”, “Entropia”.

Rate: (DP:7½)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/pages/Iris-Manta/767551936654269

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com