TRICK OR TREAT is a 5-Piece Power Metal Band from Modena, Italy. This is also the first album since ‘’Creepy Symphonies’’ that came out back in 2022. The album is the first to feature Dario Capacci replacing the departing Luca Setti. For people that don’t know, this band started as a HELLOWEEN tribute band, hence the name of the band. In 2003 they did a live album with only HELLOWEEN covers on them and it peaked the interest of many people. It’s not easy doing a cover of any HELLOWEEN songs, it’s rather difficult to have the right pitch, the right vocal range. Hell, MASTERPLAN did an album of only covers of HELLOWEEN a few years back and it sucked so bad, it was rather disappointing to say the least! They evolved as a tried and true Power Metal band afterwards and have been constantly churning new albums since 2006 and have been on countless European Metal festivals and have established a nice fanbase. I am quite happy to discover this band with you guys and see what all the hype is all about.

Power Metal is supposed to make you happy, make you dance, make you feel great. It’s a bit tongue in cheek obviously and some bands obviously don’t take them too seriously but that’s just fine by me. The genre itself is supposed to make you feel good, and in these dark times, you need a positive band like TREAT OR TREAT. I know a lot of people out there are extremely depressed with the state of world affairs. There is despair and you really like its hopeless, you need something to get your groove back. The genre is there like a beacon of hope for many people, including me. I did not expect any innovative songwriting yet the lyrical and concept ideas are really a nice departure from the genre. Their music can be obviously be label as Modern Melodic Power Metal. The whole album conveys something really uplifting. The lead singer Alessandro Conti is one of the best unknown Power Metal singers out there, he can compete with any of the giants out there like Fabio Leone, Tobias Sammet or even Timo Kotipelto. His high-pitched wails and impressive range gives this band a rather significant edge in an overcrowded genre. I think he does stand out from the rest of the band and drives the and. He is very energetic yet composed singer, he is able to give time and space to the other band members to really shine. That’s the mark of a great front man that’s for damn sure.

Speaking of Alessandro Conti, I was listening to this album the other day and I had not listened to any of their material since 2020 and I was saying to myself, wait a minute, I know that voice. Little did I know that he is singer of the very best Power Metal albums of the last two decades, ‘’Dawn of the Dragonstar’’ by TWILIGHT FORCE. I knew I heard that voice before and really lately and it’s the same incredible singer. He does seem to push his higher notes a bit more with TWILIGHT FORCE than with TRICK OR TREAT but it’s by no means any real criticism. I am not going to single out nor point out any specific song but I feel they are really embracing for the very first time wholefully their namesake. They have a name that involves Halloween and spooky themes and they went all out on this one even though we had some glimpses of the last release before this one though. I think they have found their voice, their calling. We got celebrations of horror icons like Jason, Freddy Krueger, Evil Dead, Pennywise, so it's very satisfying to see the band embracing the horror and spooky ambiance related to All Hallow's Eve and it's cat of creepy characters!

As for the pleasant surprises, well you got two major guest appearances on this opus. I will start with the second, you have the unmistakeable voice of Christopher Bowes, known for his wacky work with ALESTORM who breathes he is own unique style on ‘’Return to Monkey Island’’. This felt more like an offshoot of anything ALESTORM has done the last few years but it was a welcome sight to hear him on this album that’s for sure. The other pleasant surprise is the incredibly talented Adrienne Cowan, doing some guess vocals on the ''Bloodmoon'' track, known for her work with SEVEN SPIRES , doing live work for KAMELOT and doing some guess vocals on the latest AVANTASIA album as well. She has the best range of any female singer I have ever heard, her and UNLEASH THE ARCHERS Brittany Slayes are probably some of the very best out there. If you don’t know her by know, check her out, she is the best singer of her generation and hearing her unique voice here was a treat (pun intended)

This album is truly the representation of what this band is all about, it eliminates any doubt in the minds of the listener. They largely keep in check with their genre conventions yet I felt hey gave it a fresh coat of paint. You have some killer hooks and choruses and it makes for a highly enjoyable experience that doesn’t wear on the memory. No song seem to passed as filler and the spooky lyrical content is something really different and that caught my eye right at the start. They have accomplished so much with this opus and you have some very energetic orchestration going on that keeps you wanting more. It’s a technically impressive and upbeat album and it’s perfect for times like these. It’s Power Metal that is deliciously epic one hell of an experience from beginning to end.