Trick or Treat
Evil Needs Candy Too

There are days that seem to be born just to piss us off. Are you in the city in a car and in a hurry, a big hurry? Rest assured that all the red lights, plus two newly licensed drivers, won't be avoided. Have you studied for an exam skipping just 10 "innocent" pages, which don't even represent 1% of the entire pile? The professor will begin by starting right there. And so on... Days in which the sharp wisdom of Murphy's satirical laws "luck is blind, but misfortune sees very well" or "if something can go wrong, it will" find a timely confirmation in everyday reality. People react differently to continuous bad days. Some go crazy like in "Falling Down", some keep a constant amount of anger inside, some vent on the weaker, on their significant other, some play sports, some get angry continuously for no reason and then apologize, some distract themselves with millions of hobbies. I have another method. When faced with persistent unlucky periods, to unplug, I use music, searching for those melodies that can make me smile even in a not particularly happy moment.

Trick Or Treat is a very young band from Modena. Their link with Helloween is obvious, starting right from the band's name, chosen by singer Alessandro Conti and guitarist Luca Cabri (the respective Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen of the situation). Trick or Treat translates into Italian as "dolcetto o scherzetto" and reminds me of movies/TV shows set on the eerie nights of Halloween where kids go candy hunting (in my area, this overseas tradition hasn't arrived yet, I don't know about yours). Born as a cover band of Helloween, after some time of apprenticeship, our Trick or Treat managed to release a demo ("Like Donald Duck") and a debut album titled "Evil Needs Candy Too" which I now describe to you. The cover, featuring Nightmare eating marshmallows and IT holding a McFlurry, is simply brilliant. Not only does it put you in a good mood, but it makes you understand exactly what the band's proposal is. Cheerful and absolutely fun music.

Listening to songs like Evil Needs Candy Too is a pure remedy when you're down and gives you a feast of ultra-melodic, simple, and immediate sounds. Technically valid, both in the guitar work and in the vocals (Conti has been compared to Kiske by several music critics), they play with the right mix of carefreeness and strength exaggeratedly happy songs. Like Donald Duck perhaps represents the highest point of the entire album with a memorable chorus, but what to say about the cover of Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun? The CD moves along the same lines throughout its duration, which undoubtedly represents a weakness. In the end, after a quintal of candies, you get a stomach ache; similarly, 11 sugary songs are a bit heavy to digest. We acknowledge them for the fact that in a debut album they managed to place at least 4 standout tracks, and every time I feel down, they succeed in positively changing my mood. They have all the potential to carve out a space for themselves in the melodic metal market, but in the future, they must not overdo it because there is a real risk that they could lock themselves into a monotonous sound with no way out. To give a concrete example, I sincerely hope they don't end up like DragonForce, who, after a decent debut like Valley Of The Damned, have succumbed to ultra-fast power from which they can't extricate themselves.

One of the criticisms leveled at Trick or Treat's music is that in some cases, the riffs, solos, and vocal tones blatantly recall the more joyful and carefree songs of early Helloween (Dr. Stein, Future World, Rise And Fall, Save Us, I Want Out...). The nod is evident, I won't deny it, but fortunately, they never approach plagiarism. To appreciate an album of this type, you need to get into the right mindset, putting aside the critical spirit and disconnecting the brain. Only then can we be transported by melodic and vocal lines designed to relax and entertain us. An hour of sonic cheerfulness during a rough week is no small thing.