This is a reissue of Hitten’s third album by High Roller Records that originally came out in 2018. I came across Hitten in one of my down the rabbit hole searches on bandcamp where I lietened to the album that actually came out after this: Triumph & Tragedy. The first thing that grabbed me was the excellent sound and production. If you go back further to the band’s early releases, they pay homage to NWOBHM and obviously use that as a reference.
As they have progressed, the sound has changed to a more US vibe with a lot more melody and harmony, especially in the vocals, although still retaining that metallic edge. That is probably down to the change in vocalist to Alexx Panza, whose style is more in this vein. Though, on tracks like Evil Within, this is pure unadulterated 80’s metal but with a modern production and sound, and this is definitely my favourite tune. Stellar double kicks with max riffage, but that middle eight is just epic with a killer breakdown and solo. The title track is another monster tune with a killer riff and groove, and you are flooded with memories of times gone by as not many modern metal bands make music like this anymore. In The Heat Of The Night feels like Dokken, with more of that US vibe I mentioned earlier.
Great band that have gone from strength to strength.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
