Band:	Stravaganzza
Album:	Sentimientos
Style:	Symphonic metal
Website:	http://www.stravaganzza.com
Release date:	2005
A review by:	wrathchild

01. Miedo
02. Esperanza
03. Impotencia
04. Arrepentimiento
05. Pasión
06. Odio
07. Frustración
08. Desilusión
09. Soledad
10. Duda
11. Dolor

Last year, the first album from Stravaganzza was expected to bring something new to the world of metal. And that's partly true: It's difficult to classify the music performed by Pepe Herrero, Edu Fernández, Leo Jiménez and Dani Pérez (both from Saratoga, one of the most famous Spanish metal band).
Even though "Primer Acto" wasn't the best album of the year 2004, the band was probably the best Spanish newcomer.

The obscure and pale cover art of their new album doesn't help in finding what is this album made of. Something more gothic? Something close to doom? Not really.
The closest band I can think of would be Adagio, but less technical and more ambient.
"Sentimientos" is made of a compact and heavy rhythm section based on low percussive chords, while the higher voice, keyboards and orchestrations give the music its particular atmosphere.

That atmosphere is the core of Stravaganzza's music. It can be summed up by the word "Symphonic" but it's more than that: The words "Masquerade", "Grandiose", "Obscure" come to my mind to describe this ambience sometimes a bit twisted but never really chaotic.

And the concept of this album reflects this description: Each song on this album deals with a specific feeling ("sentimiento" in Spanish), starting with Medio ("Fear"), the perfect track to get introduced to the idea. Don't worry, the set of feelings they chose is never cheesy even though you cannot "feel" the feeling exploited in a song.
If we were to do a blind test consisting in playing one song and guessing what feeling it is associated with, most people would fail. And it would be much harder for someone who doesn't understand Spanish.

Still, it's hard to find any flaw to this album, well produced (bigsimon is now one of the best producers in Spain), well performed (Dani is such a good drummer, and Leo's voice is more varied than it is with Saratoga), and well thought. Stravaganzza's "Sentimientos" is an original (yet not avant-garde) and good mix of musical power and emotion, in which no song is a filler. Go for it!