Guitarist Francesco Fareri is not a name I was familiar with though as I do appreciate a talented metal shredder I was keen to hear Francesco's chops. I did find that this isn't the first of Francesco Fareri's album to be reviewed here at Sea Of Tranquillity, and those two previous appraisals of his earlier solo albums Secrets Within and Forbidden Dimension weren't exactly glowing.
Francesco is not only a solo artist having formed a progressive metal group called Virtual Mind. Mechanism Reloaded is his fourth solo album and includes guest appearances by guitarists Jeff Loomis and Jon Finn. The line-up is Francesco Fareri on 7/8 string guitar, Emanuele Calvelli steers the bass and Emiliano Bonini must have felt like had just completed a marathon as he keeps the tempo unloading on the drums. Mechanism Reloaded has a fair share of intense rapid fire instrumentals making this quite a full on listening experience though there is some reprieve, and Francesco promptly lets it be known that he is capable of frequently unleashing scintillating pace as he does on the title track "Mechanism Reloaded". "Equilibrium Elements" is one of the tracks that I really was taken in by the ferocity of Francesco's guitar work which sounds so cool.
Francesco's influences include Yngwie Malmsteen, Shawn Lane, Greg Howe, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker and Vitalij Kuprij and classifies his style as shred progressive metal, and you can find that firestorm of technical music on Mechanism Reloaded.
Fans of Jeff Loomis and the metal guitar titans of the 80's should spend some time with Francesco Fareri's Mechanism Reloaded, though you may need to take a breather when it's over.
Track Listing
1) First Breath
2) Mechanism Reloaded (Jeff Loomis)
3) Evil's Icon (Jon Finn)
4) Silver Blades
5) Equilibrium Elements
6) Seconds of Balance
7) After Thy Soul
8) Beyond the Mind
9) Temple of Sinners
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