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| HITTEN - Triumph & Tragedy LP | |
HRR 821LP, ltd 750, 250 x black, 250 x neon pink, 150 x white + 100 x neon violet/ white splatter vinyl (HRR mailorder exclusive), insert, 2nd pressing: ltd 475, 175 x black + 300 x magenta/ blue mixed with black splatter vinyl | |
| Alexx Panza - Vocals Dani Meseguer - Guitars Johnny Lorca - Guitar Satan - Bass Marco Prij - Drums | |
| 01 Built to Rock 02 Eyes Never Lie 03 Meant to Be Mean 04 Hard Intentions (Secret Dancer) 05 Ride Out the Storm 06 Core of the Flame 07 Under Your Spell 08 Light Beyond the Darkness 09 Something to Hide 10 Triumph & Tragedy | |
| 1st pressing SOLD OUT! 2nd pressing: AVAILABLE | |
Hitten formed in 2011 in the city of Murcia in the South-East of Spain (near Alicante). The same year the band issued their first demo entitled »Darkness Queen«. Two EPs and one full album entitled »First Strike With The Devil« (2014) followed, before Hitten signed to High Roller Records for their second full-length record »State Of Shock«, which was released in 2016. It was a clear improvement on the band’s rather naïve debut effort, altogether a more rounded effort.
»Twist Of Fate, Hitten’s second album for High Roller Records, saw the light of day in 2018 and was well-received by press and fans alike. “The reaction has been great and we’re still very proud of »Twist Of Fate«,” confirms singer Alexx Panza. “It helped us reaching out to new fans and has been appreciated by most of the old fans too. Despite the change of the singer, which is always problematic.”
Alexx had joined Hitten for »Twist Of Fate« and on the brand new record »Triumph And Tragedy« he is doing an even better job than on the last one. “»Triumph And Tragedy« has been recorded during the summer of 2020,” explains the singer, “a bit here and there. In fact, guitars and bass have been recorded in Spain, the vocals have been recorded in Italy (where I live) and the drums have been recorded in the Netherlands with the helping hand of Marco Prij, drummer for the thrash metal band Cryptosis and a great friend of the band, since we parted ways with our old drummer. The album has been mixed once again by the great Javi Félez at Moontower Studios (Barcelona) and mastered by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony.”
“»Triumph And Tragedy« is the natural evolution of the band’s sound,” Alexx Panza continues. “Where »Twist Of Fate« started bringing some hard rock vibe into Hitten’s heavy metal, »Triumph And Tragedy« takes it one step further by enhancing this melodic, late 80s/early 90’s approach to deliver a total hard ‘n’ heavy sound. If you look back, our first album »First Strike With The Devil« was more raw heavy/speed metal and very European sounding, »State Of Shock« was more US Metal oriented and »Twist Of Fate« started bringing some melodic approach to the sound...”
“»Triumph And Tragedy« talks about fate, about destiny, about faith,” is Alexx Panza’s summary of the album’s overall concept. “You never know where the path you chose will lead you, it might be triumph, it might be tragedy. Every day we make choices and every day we have to deal with the choices we made … That’s just the way it goes … but don’t be scared of the path that is more tortuous, just keep on following your own direction, and be wary of the easy way … you never know what you’ll find at the end.”
The title track closes off the album in true fashion, “Triumph And Tragedy” is quite a superb song, sounding very polished and melodic, even including traces of Whitesnake’s cherished »1984« album … “It’s great, isn’t it?,” asks Alexx. “Thank you very much for your nice words. We’re absolutely proud of it. It’s a special song because it blends a lot stuff, contrasting emotions, it’s epic, it’s dramatic, it’s melancholic, it’s fresh, it’s energetic. Listen … while I was writing the vocal line, the references running through my head were Virgin Steele, Crimson Glory, Tony Martin’s Black Sabbath and (as you said) Whitensake!”
“Built To The Rock” on the other hand is the ultimate opening song, very accessible with a captivating singalong chorus …In Alexx’s words: “The perfect way to start an album, right in your face, fast and simple, with some great twin shredding guitars.”
Once again the guitar work is very much outstanding on the entire album, showcasing lots of intricate Malmsteen-like guitar runs … “Surely a lot of effort has been put into the guitar work and the quantity of arrangements is just huge,” confirms the Hitten vocalist. “I’m very proud of my six-string brothers, the way they can create and get in tune with each other, and how they always know when it’s time to shred and when it’s time to ‘let the song breathe’. If you’re asking if Malmsteen is an influence for us, the answer is: Yes, absolutely. And it should be for everybody because he is GOD!”
In contrast to the band’s earlier albums, »Triumph And Tragedy« features some keyboard work as well, which Alexx describes as a last minute decision. He explains: “I really don’t consider it a big change. In fact aside from a little solo on the title track, all the rest are just little filler arrangements or cool background effects because of course: more is more!”
Apart from mid to late 1980s Whitesnake, some of the songs, like “Hard Intentions (Secret Dancer)” for example, hint in the direction of prime time Dokken, Bon Jovi and even (early) Europe. “You’re just naming all our favourite bands,” laughs Alexx, “and they clearly are huge influences for us. With songs like ‘Hard Intentions’ our aim is exactly to recreate the vibe of those magic times. Something that is probably missing nowadays because I honestly can’t think of many bands willing/capable to nail that sound … the ones that come closer to it usually end up with a more ‘modern’ approach/production and that’s when the magic goes away in my personal opinion.”
Matthias Mader