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Having toured with everyone from Slayer to
Funeral for a Friend, if The Haunted are
finally getting noticed, they have their dedicated
selves to thank. The band's fourth effort, rEVOLVEr
(musicians really shouldn't try to be too clever!) is
a more polished and tighter sounding package, The
likeness to In Flames is certainly more than a
passing one, but to my ears it's much more audible in
the production elements than in the musical style.
Opener No Compromise acts as a mission statement
for the Scandinavian metallers - instant migraine provision can
be found thanks to some raging battery on the drums
while vocalist Peter Dolving puts in a capital hardcore ear-splitting effort.
In fact, Mr Dolving is a master of his vocal chords,
frequently demonstrating his abilty to pull off very
convincing singing as well as disturbingly brutal
screams. Check out Abysmal and Burnt To A Shell for his
softer side - the latter has by far the best
chorus of the album and is a true sing-along number that is
sure too kick off live, with the soft:heavy ratio
pulled off to perfection.
Elsewhere, 99 contains enough time changes to convince the
most ardent of listeners that their CD is skipping,
when in fact The Haunted are playing with your mind!
More screaming atop ultra-fast chords mean that there are no
surprises here until the chorus, which is equally relentless but significantly stronger.
The epic My Shadow is as close to a ballad as The Haunted
venture but never fear, Nickelback it most
defiantly ain't. With kick-ass distorted open chords
fading into clean yet brooding verses, Peter's vocals
are very Psycore (for anyone who remembers
them!) in nature, and the emotion that transcends
through the mix in the agonisingly dark chorus is jaw-dropping.
Sabotage is a grinding assault on the senses that
sees guitar and drums lock into each other tighter
than a nut and bolt, while Nothing Right once again
puts the drummer on overtime as the double kick and
four-to-the-floor beats hit your ears like a pneumatic
drill. Who Will Decide sees old school hardcore
flavours being mixed beautifully into The Haunted's metal
sound with Lou from Sick Of It All lending his barking
presence to beef (and consequently speed) things up a
bit.
All in all, this ought to be The Haunted's
breakthrough album. It contains strong songs that avoid being
generic for the most part, and even when they are, as in Liquid Burns, they still have kicking guitar solos. rEVOLVEr
sure makes for some damn good party music.
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