Being rooted in the ashes of seminal, enormously influential Swedish death metal/melodeath band At The Gates, The Haunted have a lot to live up to. (The Bjorler brothers, guitarist Anders and bassist Jonah, and drummer Adrian Erlandsson were all members of ATG.) That aside, however, The Haunted are first-and-foremost a true thrash band. Their guitar duo (comprised of Patrik Jensen and the above-mentioned Anders Bjorler) always make it all sound so easy as they throw-out gobs of inventive and excellent, modern thrash riffage, intricate leads, and occasional solos. Erlandsson and bassist Jonah (Bjorler) comprise the rhythm section, and consistently come up with steady grooves for the rest of the band to shatter into little pieces. Vocalist Peter Dolving tops it all off with his vehement, hardcore-inflected vocals that frequently sound quite reminiscent of Pantera's Phil Anselmo. So, overall, The Haunted (and The Haunted's self-titled, 1998 debut) are part Slayer, part Pantera, and part At The Gates.
The record opens in strong-enough fashion, with a killer one-two punch in the form of the vicious adrenaline surge that is the opener, "Hate Song" (which features a catchy, hardcore-ish shout of "hate!" that is sure to get the mosh pit going), and the ripping "Chasm," which is reportedly a staple in The Haunted's live show, and features irresistibly rhythmic, chug and churn riffs, a memorable chorus, and a couple of guitar solos. And although not quite as irresistible as the above, the rest of the album does not disappoint, either. "In Vein" is a crushing deluge of crunching guitars, and is offset by some more melodic choruses. (But this is far from being a metalcore song.) "Undead" continues the blistering onslaught, with dynamic yet excellent riffage, and blazing solos. Another stirring chorus is included, here, too, as are some chunky, groove-oriented breakdowns.
"Choke Hold" has a great, contagious groove that is easy to latch onto and headbang along with, thus evoking Pantera's halcyon days. And the song ends in true Phil Anselmo fashion, too, with some ominous, spoken-word vocals. "Three Times" is another onslaught of crushing riffage played at barreling speeds; and its successor, "Bullet Hole," is a steady beating that is equally as heavy, with its crunchy, chunked-up guitar chops. "Now You Know," however, is a manic and face-ripping speedster powered by excellent, machine gun drumming, and while the guitarists effortlessly trade-off ferocious, buzzsaw riff collages.
The Haunted continue tearing through subsequent onslaughts such as the inexorable "Shattered" (which is a breakneck tornado of guitar noise), the scorching, rip-roaring, and rocket-propelled "Soul Fracture"; and "Blood Rust," which is a groove metal anthem with muscular bass work that compliments the tune's crunchy licks well (and ends by letting rip a guitar solo). The set closes in surprising fashion, though, as "Forensick" is an absolutely bone-chilling closing soundscape with creepy whispers and spoken-word passages and minimalistic noise. The song eventually evolves into catchy, aggressive, headbangable territory, though.
Overall, "The Haunted" (the album) is very exhilarating, blistering, promising, potential-filled, and most importantly entertaining -- all of which are traits that make this a very strong debut from these Swedish thrash metal revivalists.
5つ星のうち5.0One of the Angriest albums ive ever heard.
2016年12月20日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済み
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Pure rage, and just that..no dungeons and dragons or Satanic theatrics..nothing wrong with those either when done right.. but this is plain angry to the point speed/thrash metal done right. Heavy Slayer and Pantera influence.