HITTEN
“While Passion Lasts
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Hitten are a heavy metal band from Spain formed in 2011 releasing their debut E.P. ‘Shake The World’ in 2012. And to date, the band have released five full length albums – ‘First Strike With The Devil’ (2014), ‘State Of Shock’ (2016), ‘Twist Of Fate’ (2018), ‘Triumph & Tragedy’ (2021), and ‘While Passion Lasts’ (2023).

Emerging with new music every two to three years, Spanish metallers Hitten return with ‘While Passion Lasts’, continuing their glorious eighties metal sounding aura, from a time when almost every band was placed under the banner of heavy metal – even the likes of Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Kiss and Van Halen. How times have changed eh! But not for Hitten though, the band revelling in the old school flavour, breaking boundaries and spanning genres to attract fans of both metal and rock. And what a great fucking job they’re doing too – Hitten giving life to the new album with the one and a half minute instrumental ‘Prelude To Passion’, setting a very high anticipation level for what’s about to unfold…

…thirty six minutes and nine songs of barnstorming heavy metal come hard rock – the title song ‘While Passions Lasts’ cruising into sight with all the oomph and feel of the mid eighties! And I should know – I was there! And I was loving every minute of it! Even a party anthem feel rises high in the air from ‘While Passion Lasts’ (the song), the band opening their new album with a barnstorming blast of bombastic metal – a blast that just gets more emphatic, ‘Blood From A Stone’ much more explosive than the opening salvo! And with more energy too – Hitten hitting every single listener with an incredible amount of force, the Spanish outfit positively blooming in the barrage of majestic metal they’ve just dished out! And the five piece band from Murcia haven’t finished serving up a heavy metal treat yet, ‘Mr. Know It All’ harder, heavier, and more energetic than either of the two previous songs! I just can’t describe how much oomph the band have on display – think debut album ‘Look What The Cat Dragged In’ from American hard rockers Poison, that’s a good start. Add more energy and pizzazz and you may get some idea of how ‘While Passion Lasts’ (the album) sounds like.

But don’t just take my word for it – go get your own copy and decide for yourself. Hitten bring a little blues and tonnes of Southern rock to the fore, ‘Unholy Games’ a mid tempo stomper to shudder the ground and raze buildings to the ground. The band are proudly standing on the bridge between heavy metal and hard rock, leaning more towards metal but not forgetting their heavy rock influence! Every song on offer hovers around the four minute mark, paving the way for a fast moving album, although there’s one song that exceeds five minutes – ‘Dark Stalker’ chiming in as the longest song on offer, and also the fastest heard so far! The dramatic increase in pace is incredible, the band planting their feet firmly on the monitor, rocking heads back and forth at a faster rate than ever! Diehard metallers are gonna love this one – ‘Truthful Lies’ bringing to the fore a more melodic metal approach. Foot tappingly addictive and head noddingly infectious, ‘Truthful Lies’ maintains the phenomenal breathless aspect of the album – an aspect that began minute one, with song one, the level not bending a single inch!

And without a glimmer of a breather coming forth, ‘While Passion Lasts’ (the album) thunders on with the mighty foot stomping ‘Hold Up The Night’, Hitten battering everyone with a bombastic barrage of metal and rock! The band came out strong when the album began, and have just gotten stronger and stronger as each song passes by – ‘Where It All Begins’ taking the scenic route through the hard rock genre, every rocker in every corner of the world absolutely loving this one. And talking of loving – all the head bangers of the world are gonna unite as one for the albums final song, furiously banging their heads to the all out metaller ‘Crimetime’. The pace is phenomenal, the head bang ability incredible, Hitten reaffirming their position as a metal band by delivering the most metal song of all the songs on offer. What a glorious end to a bombastically entertaining album.

Overall, an incredible mix of hard rock and heavy metal, Hitten batter the airways with a wide array of infectious songs.

TRACKLIST

Prelude To Passion
While Passion Lasts
Blood From A Stone
Mr. Know It All
Unholy Games
Dark Stalker
Truthful Lies
Hold Up The Night
Where It All Begins
Crimetime

https://hittenofficial.bandcamp.com/
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