Trick or Treat – Rabbits’ Hill pt 2

Alessandro Conti

Italian band Trick or Treat started out as a tribute to the band Helloween in 2002. After several years of successfully playing Helloween songs, they built a following and began writing their own material. Their first release “Evil Needs Candy Too.” was released in 2006. Next, came “Tin Soldiers” followed by Rabbits’ Hill Part 1. The newest title is Rabbits’ Hill Part 2 is coming out on July 8^th. The band recently signed a multi-album deal with Frontiers Music and this is the first release of that deal

The songs on Rabbits’ Hill Pt. 1 and 2 were written by Trick or Treat and inspired by the English novel “Watership Down” written by Richard Adams and published in 1972. The story is an intense tale of rabbits that are forced to escape their warren when man disturbs their space. In 1978 an animated movie was made which ended up terrorizing generations of children due to its horrifically bloody and brutally graphic scenes. Alessandro Conti lead singer of Trick or Treat was one of those young children that this film made an early impression on. Alessandro tells us that a remake of the movie is coming and Google says that it will be a mini-series and available on Netflix. Word is that the remake will still be a traumatic story but toned down and not quite as brutal as the 1978 version.

Upon listening to the advance recordings of Rabbit’s Hill Part 2, I immediately loved it so when I was offered an opportunity to interview the lead singer Alessandro Conti I happily agreed. I was told that he was performing in Anaheim at the Grove and was on the bill with Primal Fear.

I didn’t see Trick or Treat listed in the advertising for the show and thought that was strange, but I thought they must have been added after the ads were made. I get there and am told by Alessandro that Trick or Treat is not performing. It turns out that Alessandro is also the singer for Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody and that’s who was actually performing with Primal Fear at The Grove. Joke was on me, this trick was actually a treat because Rhapsody is also a phenomenal band. See my interview with Luca Turilli of Rhapsody in the June issue of Backstage 360.

This new release also features three guest appearances by friends of the band. Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica, does an outstanding job on the track “United” https://youtu.be/lctRtNOM3z4

Here is a video Sara Awuadrani beautifully singing a duet with Alessandro on the song “Never Say Goodbye” https://youtu.be/MU8XyeWx_FE

Also contributing in the part of the evil General Woundwort is Tim “Ripper” Owens (ex-Judas Priest, ex Malmsteen). This is an impressive group of powerful singers on this album. You don’t want to miss this.

Alessandro is a very pleasant, down to earth and talented and intelligent guy. In addition to being an amazing vocalist he is an exceptional artist specializing in tattoo artistry. You can view his art on his official Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/alleconti.official

Trick or Treat is an unpredictable band that will surprise you over and over again. This is a powerful band with powerful messages, yet they have a silly side too. In the past, they have recorded a metal version of “Let it Go” from the Disney movie Frozen, a remake of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and they get really silly in the video for “Loser Song”.

No telling what tricks they will come up with next but this latest release Rabbits’ Hill Pt.2 is a collection of tight power metal songs telling an adventurous story that takes you from acoustic and melodic parts to dark crunchy metal.. It’s a very well-produced and action packed collection of songs that any power metal fan will love and want to add to their collection to listen to again and again. On a scale of 1-10, I’m giving Rabbits’ Hill an 11. It gets an extra point for exceeding my expectations.