Released by: Ice Warrior Records
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: Melodic Metal
Links: http://www.staminaband.com
Line Up:
Luca Sellitto – Guitar
Giorgio Adamo – Vocals
Roberto Chiumiento – Bass
Andrea Barone – Keyboards
Alessandro Beccati (session) -Drums
special guests:
Henrik Brockmann track 3
Kenny Lubcke track 2,4, 7,10 ,11,12
Tracklist:
1.Intro
2.Eyes Of The Warrior (feat. Kenny Lubcke on backing vocals)
3.Burn Your Fears (feat. Henrik Brockmann on lead vocals)
4.Too Tired To Live (feat. Kenny Lubcke on backing vocals)
5.Power Of Love
6.Supremacy
7.Maker Of The Universe (feat. Kenny Lubcke on backing vocals)
8.Mystery
9.Black Moon
10.Heart Of The World (feat. Kenny Lubcke on backing vocals)
Bonustracks:
11.Maker Of The Universe (Kenny Lubcke lead vocals)
12.Too Tired To Live (Kenny Lubcke lead vocals)
13.When The Feeling Is Real (Exclusive Bonus Track for IceWarrior Records)
Seriously what the fuck is this? The opening intro pumped me with so much adrenaline like no other song in several weeks at least, and then came Eyes of the Warrior and I had instant goosebumps from the first note of the song. Where the freaking crap is this band coming from and why have I never heard about them before?
Okay cool down, breathe deeply, man. This seems to be an Italian band playing progressive metal, but that’s probably as good a description as saying Einstein was a German physicist with some pretty good ideas. If you would expect Two of a Kind to be a random progressive metal, you are completely off. Actually, except several parts where the guys get technical and using some complicated breakdowns typical for wanky prog, this does not sound much like anything from the genre. I would rather like to point out the similarities with neo-classical metal, but strangely enough, this is missing typical frilly guitar solos as well.
But wait – the band is really dancing on the borderline between these genres, using only pros of both and leaving the cons behind. We are talking about extremely melodic music here – these guys love the melody in their music at least as much as I do, borrowing songwriting methods from epic power metal or AOR, while not trying to be either. And god, listen to Giorgio Adamo on vocals – he is at least as good as Mats Levén or Göran Edman, and I’m pretty sure Yngwie would kill to get him singing on any of his upcoming albums.
Damn, this is so unexpectedly impressive I’m at loss of adjectives. Luckily, I didn’t close my 2010’s Highlights list yet, as this is definitely gonna rank pretty highly there. I’m just pissed about this being released in October 2010, and now it’s April 2011, which means I lost half a year having no chance to enjoy and explore this beautiful album. There’s absolutely nothing to bitch about this time, even the wankier parts do work very well for me. Hands down the best neo-classically flavored album in years.
*Note: I was too blinded by the excellence while writing the review, so I didn’t even notice obvious comparison to classic first 4 albums by Royal Hunt. Silly me, but for fans of that sound, Two of a Kind is simply a must have album.
Written by Eeepi
Ratings Eeepi 8/10