Stamina are an Italian progressive metal band and are the brainchild of songwriter/guitarist Luca Sellitto. Formed in 2001, Perseverance is their third album and is available on the German ProgPower label. Names such as Göran Edman (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum), Nils Molin (Dynazty) and Maria McTurk (Royal Hunt) lend a hand in what is a very satisfying album indeed. If you were to think of bands such as Royal Hunt, Symphony X and Dream Theater and to my ears in particular Pagan's Mind you won't be far away from Stamina's oeuvre.
The bombastic, over the top keyboards which are such a feature of Royal Hunt make their presence known throughout but especially on "Breaking Another String" which goes over the top and then some but remains highly melodic but at any given point the listener is never far away from an interesting musical detour. That said, Stamina can pull off relatively straightforward hard rock songs as well with "I'm Alive" being a prime example of a song which once upon a while may well have gained some airplay. As the band's main man the aforementioned Luca Sellitto gives himself plenty of chance to shine with his six strings and in many ways this is his album and one that I've already slotted on my 2014 best of list.
Track Listing:
01. Higher
02. Breaking Another String
03. I'm Alive
04. Just Before The Dawn
05. Perseverance
06. Naked Eye
07. Unbreakble
08. Wake Up The Gods
09. Winner For A Day
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