Artist: Fabrizio Chiruzzi CD Title: Gates of Doom Reviewed by: Nick Martinelli Reviewed: 8/1/2001

     A CD of epic portions and epics you get.  I was amazed at the songwriting ability of this newcomer to the instrumental guitar world.  Fabrizio Chiruzzi knows how to write epic songs without losing the listener along the way.  A nice mix of "New Age" like music and guitar shred.  What a new combination!  The songs on this CD really create a great vibe and mood.  They are very melodic and calm.  Sorry no insane fist flying songs here, just down and dirty soulful guitar playing (well, there's one fast track).  Maybe I mislead you a little bit, there's tons of shred!  Fabrizio dishes out shred by the truck full.  Plenty of speed runs, exotic scales, tapping, trem bar tricks, but he doesn't leave out the crying soulful leads.  Another thing you'll notice is, Fabrizio's ability to write atmospheric songs.  These songs are very layered and have lots of life to them.  Which makes there physical length seem out of context.

     Track one, "Nameless Love" is a slower tempo track with lots of atmosphere, here he creates one world of sound.  One thing to point out is Fabrizio's use of clean guitar tones for lead work.   03:43 marks one of the best clean passages in this track, very lively and its also packed with plenty of soul.  From clean bends to tremolo picking with a flamenco feel, he covers all grounds here. The main repeating lick is also another great addition to the song, it pops in quite a bit throughout to help restate its theme. Check it out for the first time at 01:33.  06:06 is another great part by Chiruzzi.  He hits you with a phenomenal arpeggio section, well executed and clean.  If you listen closely and if you have a little guitar scale knowledge, listen for his use of the Hiroshi scale.  It's very exotic sounding which will help give itself away. I really liked his use of it along with the harmonic scales.  Not many venture into these realms, but Fabrizio knows his theory and how to apply it.   What a great song, it's one to put on loop and listen to over and over again. 

     "Gates of Doom," track two opens with a beautiful piano intro.  It so melodic and low key and it really gets in you.  Fabrizio really goes on a musical journey with this long song.  He shows off his fret board know how, moving all over the place.  From speed licks to soulful marches.  The lick at 03:27 really sticks with me through out the whole song.  It's very catchy and melodic, not over bearing.  At 04:00 Chiruzzi gives of a taste of his his speed work with some well executed runs, arpeggios and harmonies.  06:42 gives a few more power packed runs and licks; their pretty wild.  I simply love the use of the WAH WAH at 7:12, it adds so much texture to what he's doing at this point.  The tone achieved is quite amazing, I highly recommend giving it a listen.  Then to finish out the track we get outro piano piece, it really add a nice finishing touch to the track.

     Track three, "Blue Tears" is a very slow and melodic number that will take your mind to a whole other place.  Nice blend of piano and clean guitars at the beginning that  builds an amazing atmospheric feeling to the song. 1:58 marks the first appearance of the main repeating lick in the song and what a lick it is.  Packed with bends and melody and no speed (which is a good thing in here).  I really liked the orchestration of this whole song; its very well put together and it doesn't get boring after the first five minutes.  That's one thing that is really different about Fabrizio that astonished me.  He writes some songs that are 8 minute plus, and you don't lose interest anywhere throughout the track.  He keeps your ears locked in for the long haul.  Check out the part at 7:08, Chiruzzi picks up the pace just a little with his lead work; blending speed, melody and bends all together for one great lead section.

     "Second to None" track four, is the fast paced shred song on the album packed with wild guitar antics and double bass drums.  From the first second of the song you get crazy fret board antics and are they cool.  I think Fabrizio really went wild with this track and it shows.  00:56 is one great lead to check out, with melody and speed combined together.  Another thing you'll notice is his use of classical styling throughout the song.  It's used very tastefully and isn't overdone. 2:12 gives us a little taste of what odd sounding ideas he can come up with.  I was really impressed with this section and had to listen to it a few times to absorb it all.  Chiruzzi has some amazing speed chops and you get tons of them in here.  Finally, his use of the trem bar at the end tops the cake with some insane dives and accents.

     Track five "The Eternal Nush" is another song with a whole world of it's own.  Again, like the others, this song stands alone from the rest of the CD.  One thing I keep mentioning is his ability to write "atmospheric sounding" songs, and rightfully so.  Chiruzzi knows how to create some great mood music that takes your mind into an endless daydream.  This song has a few different movements in it, they are usually started by a new piano evolution.  I really like the way this song is constructed because you get so much handed to you at once and never have a problem taking it in.  In fact, one thing I noticed is that the song constantly builds upon itself, getting progressively faster as it goes on.  Chiruzzi does tons of of tapping throughout the song and its super clean.  Unlike most guitarists who strictly tap at lighting speed, Fabrizio uses it at a slower pace to help embrace his leads with a soft and smooth feel to them.  9:03 is where the shred really gets moving.  The selections of modes and runs play a key role in the success of these leads.  As always, they are melodic and impressive.  You might find yourself rewinding many parts and listening to them over again.

    Looking back, you as the listener are given a lot from this CD.  It took me a while to review this CD simply because there was so much to take in and absorb.  I have never heard anything like this before, New Age and Shred combined into one animal.  It's really a new musical experience, and I recommend giving his playing a try if your looking for something new with a lot to offer.  With influences like Vinnie Moore, Chris Impellitteri, Jason Becker, Michael Romeo and Yngwie he can't go wrong.  This CD is defiantly for the guitar fanatic at heart.  It will help to broaden your musical horizons  and open your playing to a whole other world. Even if your not a guitar player, this CD can be a great relaxer to mellow out with.  I hope to see where Fabrizio goes with his next CD, I have high expectations after listening to this one.  What musical journeys will he hand to us next?