Italian melodic/progressive metal band Stamina has been around for more than a decade and has released 4 albums up-to-date. They’ve featured many guest musicians on their albums including Henrik Brockmann (ex-Royal Hunt, Evil Masquerade), Kenny Lubcke (ex-Narita, André Andersen, backing vocalist of Royal Hunt), Göran Edman (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum, Brazen Abbot, etc.) and Nils Molin (Dynazty). The band is also the brainchild of guitarist, songwriter, and producer Luca Sellitto.
Stamina‘s fourth and latest album “System of Power” is a colorful one. It aims to create a style of music that combines a wide range of influences ranging from Angra, Dream Theater, Yngwie Malmsteen‘s Rising Force, Royal Hunt and much more. This album is so wide-ranging indeed that it’s like a playlist of various artists, vehemently consisting of unpredictable and at times familiar surprises on each track. Without a doubt, this is a band so developed that they’re not afraid of experimentation ( and that includes experimentation with flutes!). The changes in the tone are achieved so precisely with each instrument that it seems they can carefully adapt any given style to their liking. And the result: a very prog, Dream Theater-esque riff in one moment, contrasting that with a blast from the past – keyboard-driven fills which contains a similar attack to Europe’s “The Final Countdown”, then a very theatrical chorus with a power metal approach the next. You can clearly hear a band that engages in having fun while cleaving away from the typical here.
“System of Power” is a daring album with a wide sonic spectrum; soft and loud, mild and aggressive, all evenly carried out with technical fluency. As generous as I’ve been with my sentiments of this band, I must say that this album is mostly tailored for fans of melodic prog metal in general. Nonetheless, a very fine effort from Stamina.
Tracklist:
1. Holding On
2. Must Be Blind
3. One in a Million
4. Undergo (Black Moon Pt. 2)
5. Love Was Never Meant to Be
6. System of Power
7. Why
8. Portrait of Beauty
Playing time: 73:37
Release date: 24 February, 2017
Label: Pride & Joy Music
Website: Facebook
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