Trick or Treat – The Legend Of The XII Saints

TRICK OR TREAT
The Legend Of The XII Saints
Scarlet Records
April 24^th, 2020
01:05:52

Fourteen songs are on the new album by Italian power metal legends Trick or Treat. Twelve of them are named after the signs of the zodiac. Or after the legendary knights from the “Saint Seya” saga. Well, so far, I was not familiar with this Japanese manga and anime saga (Masami Kurumada, 1985), but this concept piqued my interest. The history of the band goes back to 2002. The Italians started as a Helloween Tribute Band. But that was not enough for the musicians. So, they started writing their own songs. The debut album “Evil Needs Candy Too” was released four years later. “The Legend Of The XII Saints” is now the sixth studio album.

To say it in advance. the sound of Trick or Treat has nothing (more) to do with the pumpkin heads. So there is rather sweet, instead sour to hear on this album. You will be prepared for this at the intro / opener “Ave Athena”. The Greek goddess’s homage is extremely bombastic, with large choruses and sacred organ sounds. With “ARIES Stardust Revolution” you can hear it very clearly. High-speed guitars and a singer who could also be an opera baritone. The whole thing is very reminiscent of song material from the Rhapsody universe. Musically I would also think of Temperance, but with male vocals. So typically, Italian. This will then be consistently continued at “TAURUS Great Horn”. At least the guitars roar a little more here. And with “GEMINI Another Dimension” again, harmonies and large melody arches are in the foreground. Beast in Black singer Yannis Papadopoulos can be heard as a guest. Why should the musicians change the musical recipe? That is why you can hear this fun-spreading music below. Vary only slightly in speed, bombast use, melody A little bit Industrial in “CANCER Underworld Wave”, a bit anthemic in “LEO Lightning Plasma”, slightly groovy in “VIRGO Tenbu Horin”. If you are waiting for a change, you have to be patient. Folk influences were incorporated into “VIRGO Tenbu Horin”. But here, too, the good mood rock party sound is changed very quickly. But the power ballad “SAGITTARIUS Golden Arrow” can really convince me. And the two ballads at the end (“PISCES Bloody Rose”, “Last Hour (The Redemption)”). I especially like the latter, the acoustic ballad.

It is significant when the three ballads are the highlights of this album for me. The rest is more or less uniform. Certainly, each song shows the skills of the musicians and it’s fun to listen to. But everything is too predictable. There is too little variety. Against the background of the concept, I would have expected the twelve knights to be represented in a slightly more differentiated manner. The musicians have the potential for this. They should really get it next time.

Track list

1. Ave Athena
2. ARIES Stardust Revolution
3. TAURUS Great Horn
4. GEMINI Another Dimension
5. CANCER Underworld Wave
6. LEO Lightning Plasma
7. VIRGO Tenbu Horin
8. LIBRA One Hundred Dragons Force
9. SCORPIO Scarlet Needle
10. SAGITTARIUS Golden Arrow
11. CAPRICORN Excalibur
12. AQUARIUS Diamond Dust
13. PISCES Bloody Rose
14. Last Hour (The Redemption)

Lineup

Leone Villani Conti – Bass
Guido Benedetti – Guitars
Alessandro Conti – Vocals
Luca Setti – Drums
Luca Venturelli – Guitars

MHF Magazine/Rainer Kerber