STAMINA is an Italian Power/Prog Metal band founded in 2002. I'm going to start this review with my favorite track, "Undergo (Black Moon Part 2)". The track comes in with a very classic sounding acoustic guitar part. The rest of the band comes in pretty hard to let us know they are here. This song is very soulful and delicate for the most part. It's a wonderful blend of the standard power ballad tempo with soothing prog guitar parts. I wish I was better at understanding lyrics and their meaning as I'm sure this track has a deep message. The guitar solos scattered throughout have a oldschool feel, almost hair metal sounding with some face melting scales. The vocals are pretty solid, the vocal range doesn't sound difficult but it sounds like an obscene amount of effort was put into them, its pretty fantastic. A gentle flute leads the track out, its very soothing.

"Love Was Never Meant To Be" comes in with a brilliant keyboard part. It sounds like a villain in a silent era silent film. Its slightly comical but that is not a bad thing. The track takes hold after that and comes in with a real power metal sound, with the same keyboard part sounding less comical and more insightful. The vocals again sound very full in the mid range, this is a very hard sound to replicate. The starts to shine through about half way with some well thought out guitar fills. It seems like the prog and power metal are fighting for control, I love it. "System of Power" has an ominous feeling from the get go. I can once again feel the struggle between the prog and power. The track comes in high energy and then dies down to a more sinister tone during the verse. All around solid instrumentals, with the chorus coming in sounding very powerful. The guitar work is subtle but as a guitarist I took note to the talent. Its pretty easy to get caught up in this track and just kinda groove out. The solo towards the end is extremely reminiscent to me, with a keyboard guitar duel at the end.

"Why" has a very different tone than the rest of the album, with a military tone, it sounds like something is coming. The track keeps the colossal feeling when the rest comes in, faster paced but still as if something is lurking. The drums and vocals take point for a hopeful feeling, it is very emotionally stirring. The chorus retains the same feeling with what sounds like a chorus singing with him. "Portrait of Beauty" comes in with a steady bass line and droning keys, very smooth. Its pretty hard not to groove to this ending track. The guitar is super chunky and vibrant. You can hear every dissonant sound. The resonant vocals come in with a powerful sound. The vocal patterns in this track definitely took some chops and I feel like they nailed it. This epic track tops off the album extremely well, with the chorus section and the progressive guitar standing out to me. The keys take on a very 80s sound that really expose the influence of these guys. The guitar solo that ends the track is so clean and on point, honestly I feel like they couldn't have ended any better than this. Overall if you want an introduction to the prog world, this is it.

The prog is not too over baring and anyone who is a fan of rock in general can appreciate this album. Very enjoyable