FABRI KIARELI’s F.E.A.S.T. – Rise (2010)

F.E.A.S.T. is the brain child of Italian born singer and guitarist Fabri Kiareli, who got infected with the Rock N Roll virus at an early age when he heard The Who’s “Pinball Wizard”.
Spending some of his teen years in Mexico the first musical influences came mostly from the nearby USA.
Returning to Italy, since the mid-80s he has been playing in Heavy Rock bands, when he got to the attention of Pino Scotto, the former lead vocalist of Vanadium, one of the most successful Rock bands in Italy at that time.
With his own project Pino still had a big following and so Fabri had the fortune to play in front of larger audiences.
Over the course of the years he earned himself a solid reputation as a guitar player and background vocalist for studio sessions and live concerts.

His solo project F.E.A.S.T. is pure 80’s melodic hard rock as he draws heavily from bands like Dokken, Ratt, White Lion and Def Leppard (to a lesser extent).
On this first album “Rise”, Kiareli handles the lead vocals and most of the instruments, excepting the drums by friend Mao Granata.
Mr. Kiareli is a fine vocalist (sounding like a cross between Bloodgood’s Les Carlsen and David Coverdale) an accomplished guitarist and a wise songwriter.

He can punch it up with harder melodic rock on “Fire And Dynamite” and “Burning Fever” (great guitar licks here) or lay down some catchy hooks as on “Shock Me”.
You get a solid rockin’ blues rock feel ala Coverdale and Whitesnake on “Dangerous Love” and the impressive “(Ain’t Done) ‘Til It’s Over”, the latter one of the highlights of the album.
He pairs up with fellow Italian singer Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge Of Forever, Eden’s Curse, Axe) for the melodic rock anthem “Follow The Way”.
Of course, being a prodigy of those heady eighties days, Fabri delivers some serious and sugary power ballads with “Cold Hearted” and “Broken Dreams”.
Kiareli can also delve into a traditional epic metal/rock on the ten minute “The Meaning Of Life”.

“Rise” is well-crafted classic melodic hard rock, sometimes with a hard edge, sometimes with a smoldering rocking bluesy feel.
A strong first effort from Fabri Kiareli, who has handled all of the instruments himself, except for the drums and some guest musicians, but this recording sounds like a ‘real band’, and the production / mix is big and crispy.
If you dig Eighties-style melodic hard rock, you should definitely check it out.
Recommended.

01 – Fire And Dynamite
02 – Feed The Hunger
03 – Love Renegade
04 – Dangerous Love
05 – Follow The Way (duet with A. Del Vecchio)
06 – Cold Hearted
07 – (Ain’t Done) ‘Til It’s Over (feat. Luke Ballabio)
08 – Win Or Lose
09 – Stormwind
10 – Broken Dreams
11 – Shock Me
12 – Burning Fever
13 – The Meaning Of Life

Fabri Kiareli : vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
Mao Granata : drums
Alessandro Del Vecchio : co-lead vocals on “Follow The Way”
Luke Ballabio : middle guitar solo on “(Ain’t Done) Til It’s Over”

IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT!