Review: Trick Or Treat – Ghosted

Scarlet Records (April 25^th, 2025)

Reviewer – Jason Hopper

Trick Or Treat is, as you might have guessed, a Halloween inspired power metal band. While there are several bands that utilize horror as its main subject matter (Lordi and Wednesday 13 are two bands that come to mind), this Italian band has a tongue in cheek approach to this narrative. They do not take themselves too seriously and are just out to have themselves some fun with some dark material. For the most part, this works effectively in their favor.

They came onto my radar when I heard the title track, which was their first single. While most of the tracks are more in the vein of high intensity power metal, this song was more of a mid-tempo traditional metal track that was right up my alley. A fantastic groove that has a sing-songy sway to it that reminds me of something Tobias Sammet would write for Avantasia.

Rather than create their own horror narratives, Trick Or Treat chose to pay tribute to various established lore. A quick look at their titles and you can guess what nearly half their songs will reference. That’s not a critique, just a fact as the band come up with some superb melodies based off these stories.

‘Bloodmoon’ features guest vocals from Seven Spires singer Adrienne Cowan and her inclusion takes a standard power metal track and sends it into the stratosphere. Not that lead singer Alle Conti wasn’t doing a good job on his own, but the first third of the song was a bit derivative until Adrienne jumps in and sends it soaring, ultimately joining in on the chorus and giving it some heft. One point deducted for the middle portion of the song where it becomes a death metal mess. Speed drums and some type of vocal cantation nearly derails the song, but luckily, it’s just a brief bridge and does not get repeated. Despite that portion, this is a favored track.

‘The 13th’ is a stellar tune that references the Friday the 13^th franchise. It’s power metal at its finest, alternating between a solid and thick metal riff with a standard rock 4/4 drum beat and sprinkling in double bass intensity throughout to add flavor. It also contains two interesting guitar solos. They are not overtly flashy and compliment the main melody, especially the second solo, where the music drops out and the guitar roars forth. 

While most of the tracks had something I could get behind, I did have difficulty embracing a few songs. ‘Dance with the Dancing Clown’ has a circus aesthetic that includes bells, chimes, and a frantic melody that’s meant to sound both childlike and creepy, but it comes off as silly and annoying. 

While many of the tracks include references to inspirational horror movies, ‘Return to Monkey Island’ takes a different path. Inspired by a series of 90s video games, Alle Conti sings the song like a stereotypical pirate and the band goes off the rails. I know nothing of the video game it is based on, but it has ridiculous lyrics. I can’t get behind a song that has a speed metal tempo combined with this silly sounding title that is unfortunately included in the chorus.  

The album concludes with ‘Bitter Dreams’ and is the “epic” song of the album. At nearly eight minutes, I love the direction this song goes. It starts off as an acoustic based ballad, with the full band coming in to build to a power ballad-type structure. However, after a brief rendition of the Freddy Krueger theme song that draws us in, the band hits the throttle and blasts forth with a take no prisoners melody that evokes the listener being trapped in a nightmare. So much going on here that I played this track the most out of all the ones I listened to, returning to it to take it all in. 

However, one thing that always bugs me is a song that overstays it’s welcome. The final two minutes of the track is a mix of a refrain of the guitar and key melody and a bunch of sonics, including little children reciting the Nightmare on Elm Street nursery rhyme. There’s nothing wrong with any of this, but it does not need to last two minutes.

I do love the mix of metal and horror, so this album is right up my alley, despite a few bumps in the road. If you dig the musicality of bands like Helloween, Masterplan, and Avantasia, you will find something to love here. Hope to hear more from this band in the future.

Tracklist:

1. Lost In the Haunted House (Introduction)
2. Craven Road
3. Bloodmoon
4. Ghosted
5. Dance with the Dancing Clown
6. Polybius
7. Evil Dead Never Sleeps
8. Return to Monkey Island
9. Make a Difference
10. The 13th
11. Bitter Dreams

Line-up: