Trick Or Treat - The Unlocked Songs
Power Metal
Power Metal
13 songs (55' 37")
Release year: 2021
Reviewed by Andy

Italian power metal outfit Trick or Treat hasn't been taken terribly seriously in almost 20 years of activity, but then, why not? The band doesn't seem to. With the quirky humor of Helloween but without that band's foundational metal fame, one would expect them to be an also-ran in the metal scene, except for the fact that they also inherit Helloween's ability to write absolutely gorgeous power metal songs no matter how silly the subjects. The Unlocked Songs is a cross-section of some the band's output through a different lens: A mix of B-sides, covers, and acoustic versions.

It's impossible not to smile at some of these tracks, and the relentlessly upbeat nature of the band. Hungarian Hangover, a straightforward mid-tempo power metal track, sounds autobiographical, while I Cavalieri Dello Zodiaco is a cover of the theme to the Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac anime. Even Misfits covers are smoothed and made positive and even a little joyful with the Trick or Treat treatment. I didn't get to hear the original of Sagittarius - Golden Arrow, but the acoustic version is pretty.

The most ridiculous is definitely Evil Needs Christmas Too, which I expected to be a Christmas-themed version of 2006's Evil Needs Candy Too -- but they use exactly the same lyrics, just sub in "Christmas" for "candy" on the chorus. Why? As if to atone for this mess they follow it up with a beautiful high-speed power instrumental, Aries Hall; and after that even the silliness of Like Donald Duck (this one sounds autobiographical too!) can't edge out the quality of the musicianship -- and this is merely the demo from 2004. The last track is a live cover of -- who else? -- Helloween. If there's any doubt that Trick or Treat has spent a lot of time practicing Helloween tunes, their picture-perfect rendition of I'm Alive removes it.

The Unlocked Songs is often as ridiculous as one would expect from the band's previous album covers, but it's worth the listen anyway. Time to check out the rest of the Trick or Treat catalog, I guess.

Bandcamp: https://scarletrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-unlocked-songs.

Killing Songs :
I Cavalieri Dello Zodiaco, Scream, Aries Hall
Andy quoted no quote
Other albums by Trick Or Treat that we have reviewed:
Trick Or Treat - Rabbits Hill Pt2. reviewed by Joel and quoted 87 / 100
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