Sometimes a medical diagnosis can make us reconsider our life choices. For Federico Favaro, it was the assurance of partial or total blindness in the more or less long term that prompted him to realize his childhood dream of making music full-time, putting to good use twenty years of guitar playing, notably with Syn X, an Italian Symphony X tribute band.
Strongly influenced by Plini, his first instrumental EP, “Abstractions”, navigates between cutting-edge technicality and melodic accessibility, and is a fine calling card for an artist whose musical sensibility clearly lies on the border between djent, progressive metal and post-rock.
Right from the opening two tracks, 'Automata' and 'Daydream', the tone is set: a syncopated djent rhythm, flowing, melodic guitar lines, all constructed with millimetric precision. Federico Favaro avoids the pitfall of purely technical demonstration by letting his compositions breathe, alternating rhythmic sophistication with aerial flights of fancy.
At the crossroads of djent and progressive metal, the Italian's music also borrows from post-rock, as witnessed by “Polaris” and above all the excellent “Horizon”, which, with its controlled build-up of tension, is particularly representative of the guitarist's universe, who manages to breathe real personality into his music, while remaining within the codes of an instrumental guitar album.
With “Abstractions”, Federico Favaro signs an effective and personal first EP, oscillating between power and delicacy. A fine debut for a musician who seems to have found his niche, somewhere between the rigor of modern metal and the freedom of post-rock.