Trick or Treat bring together a career retrospective from their 20 years as a band in the live album A Creepy Night Live and showcase the brilliance of live power metal at the same time.
Trick or Treat as one might imagine given the name, started out as a Helloween tribute band , eventually releasing their own material in a demo, Like Donald Duck. Seven full length albums followed from Evil Needs Candy Too (2006) to Creepy Symphonies (2022) and they even had former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske on second album Tin Soldiers (2008) as well as sharing the stage with Helloween and Stratovarius on some European dates. A Creepy Night Live pulls in material from their full catalog and has a studio bonus track “When the Lights Fade Out” featuring Tommy Johansson (Sabaton, Majestica). In addition to the bonus studio track two of the live songs feature guest vocalists with Chiara Tricario (Moonlight Haze) on “Tears Against Your Smile” and Michael Luppi (Whitesnake) on “Take Your Chance”, which must have been great surprises for the audience. The album was mixed and mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio and preserves the feel and energy of the band’s performance.
As a reviewer, I feel I have a decent grasp on many of the metal genres, especially ones like power metal that I count as a favorite, but then comes Trick or Treat, a band around more than 20 years who I don’t remember ever hearing. Thankfully that situation has been fixed with A Creepy Night Live showing up in my queue. Even better, it’s a well-produced live album that covers their entire catalog. In what could be a short review, I’m now a fan and if you like power metal, this is one to pick up. The songs range from the double bass driven galloping fast tracks like “Creepy Symphony”, “Loser Song” and “to the mid-tempo anthemic ones like”Aquarius: Diamond Dust”, “Hungarian Hangover”, and “Take Your Chance” and even a power ballad “Tears Against Your Smile”.
Performances on the albums are exceptional and Alessandro Conti’s vocals are perfect for power metal showing great strength and range from the falsettos to the more forceful shouted. While not a fan of power ballads, I do like “Tears Against Your Smile” as the back and forth between Conti and guest vocalist Chiara Tricario (Moonlight Haze) work really well as do the harmony sections. Michael Luppi (Whitesnake) shows up to trade verses with Conti on “Take Your Chance” which also works really well in the live format and must have been another special moment for the crowd.
Not only does A Creepy Night Live have strong vocal performances, but the guitars from Luca Venturelli and Guido Beneditti have everything one would expect from power metal, from the fast riffs, to the blazing solos where they trade off in some situations and harmonize in others (check video for “Aquarius: Diamond Dust”). I especially like the song “Rabbits’ Hill as an example of the strength of the musicianship of the band as Leone Villani Conti’s bass plays a prominent role in the song in the verse sections when the bass and drums from Luca Setti carry the song. The tradeoff and harmonized guitar solos from Guido Benedetti and Luca Venturelli work well within the context of the song and highlight the skill of both.
I always like when bands continue to bring out the older tracks live and Trick or Treat include one of their earliest released tracks in “Like Donald Duck”, which puts them in company of bands like Alestorm and Gloryhammer, where songs lean toward the fun side of things. The song itself gallops along and provides room for tempo changes, a catchy chorus, and harmonized guitar leads and solos. Underlying all of this is the solid, driving rhythm section of Leone Villani Conti on bass and Luca Setti on drums, who may not get as much credit as they are due in the overall strength of the songs.
If you enjoy power metal and have not heard of Trick or Treat, you owe it to yourself to pick up A Creepy Night Live as it shows a band with great talent performing songs from their 20 year catalog in a live setting where they are having a great time.
Rating: 8/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
- Intro/Creepy Symphony
- Have a Nice Judgment Day
- Loser Song
- Aquarius: Diamond Dust
- The Great Escape
- Tears Against Your Smile (feat Chiara Tricario)
- Cloudrider
- Hungarian Hangover
- Libra: One Hundred Dragons Force
- Take Your Chance (feat. Michael Luppi)
- Rabbits’ Hill
- Crazy
- Like Donald Duck
- When the Lights Fade Out (Santa’s in Trouble), feat. Tommy Johansson
Band Members
Alessandro Conti – vocals
Guido Benedetti – guitar
Luca Venturelli – guitar
Leone Villani Conti – bass
Luca Setti – drums
Release Date: 8 December 2023
Record Label: Scarlet Records
Social Media: Website / Instagram / Facebook / Spotify / Twitter
Video for “Tears Against Your Smile”
Video for “Aquarius: Diamond Dust”
Lyric video for “When the Lights Fade Out”