I’ve never been a subscriber of blind fanboyism, so I won’t hesitate to call out a complete failure, as Unseen is. So where does it fail? Everywhere. The riffs are weak, watered down and considerably un-thrash. The fast and sometimes masterful lead work of past efforts is long gone. Dolving’s vocals lack power, and at times I swear he’s near rapping (see opener “Never Better”). At others, he sounds almost whiny in his delivery (“Motionless”, “Unseen”), which is always annoying.

Everything is stripped back, gutted of aggression and nearly all metallic elements, leaving a simplified, easily digestible and ready-for-radio template. “No Ghost” tries on it’s southern, bluesy shoes, but ends up sounding really out of place. When they try to get heavy, it comes out in the form of “The Skull”, a track that starts on a Tool-ish note, then breaks into a chunky, groove based riff that ultimately sounds forced, and/or pulled from the nu-metal playbook.

I honestly don’t have a single good thing to say about Unseen. There’s not a memorable moment to be found on it – it’s atrocious. “All Ends Well” is a complete abomination that, believe it or not, stands out as more horrible than the rest – I can’t even begin to describe whats wrong with it.

What it all adds up to is The Haunted are putting in their bid to join the mainstream. Simplifying their sound, adding extra catchy hooks, gutting the aggression – the problem though – it doesn’t work, because in the end, none of it is all that catchy.

I was on board when the band started to broaden their sound on rEVOLVEr, and the much maligned The Dead Eye – both albums were still very much metal, still thrashy, yet many new elements and ideas were brought to the table, and for the most part, I thought they worked. Some of you may recall my review of their last, Versus, and my nitpicking of them treading water instead of moving forward with their sound. I know I recall that well, but Unseen is not what I had in mind — a complete abandoning of their core sound in favor of this…abortion of an album that sees them sounding more like modern hard rock or alt-metal or Dio forbid, nu-metal, is a travesty.

Blind supporters will undoubtedly call it “art”, “avant-garde”, “experimental”, etc etc and try their best to convince the rest of us it’s some sort of brilliant masterwork, but I’m not fooled, this is garbage. But then again, maybe I’ve got it all wrong and Unseen really is meant to be some kind of masterful work of art – in which case it’s still a big steaming pile of…well, you get the picture by now.

Celebrated Swedish heavyweights THE HAUNTED have announced details of new double disc compilation that details the bands time with EARACHE RECORDS from 1998 – 2003.

Titled WARNING SHOTS, the album contains 28 of THE HAUNTED’s most killer tracks, including a second disc with many rare and unreleased songs. The booklet contains an extensive interview with bass player Jonas Bjorler, conducted with respected UK rock critic Dominic Lawson, examining the early years of the band andreflecting on the material included on the compilation.

The full tracklist for WARNING SHOTS is as follows:

Disc 1 – containing tracks from the three albums THE HAUNTED, THE
HAUNTED MADE ME DO IT and ONE KILL WONDER:

01 Hate Song

02 Trespass

03 Shadow World

04 D.O.A.

05 Undead

06 One Kill Wonder

07 Under the Surface

08 In vein

09 Hollow Ground

10 Everlasting

11 Dark Intentions

12 Bury Your Dead

13 Shithead

14 Chasm

15 Revelation

16 Forensick

Disc 2 – ‘Off the Record’ – containing rare and unreleased material

01 Ritual (ONE KILL WONDER session track)

02 Creed (ONE KILL WONDER session track)

03 Well of Souls (CANDLEMASS cover)

04 Eclipse (THE HAUNTED MADE ME DO IT session track)

05 Choke Hold (live)

06 Leech (live)

07 Three Times (live)

08 Undead (demo)*

09 Shattered (demo) (from STATEMENTS OF INTENT compilation)

10 Undead (DEATH & 1/2 PROD. rehearsal)*

11 Now You Know (DEATH & 1/2 PROD. rehearsal)*

12 Blood Rust (DEATH & 1/2 PROD. rehearsal)*

* previously unreleased

Trivia fans will note that the final 3 tracks on Disc 2 were recorded in pre-THE HAUNTED times, before the band had settled on a final band name. The tracks come from a rehearsal tape made at a time when the band were considering the name DEATH & 1/2 PROD WARNING SHOTS will be released in Europe on March 9, with a US release on April 7.

Their 6th studio effort, Versus, sees a halt of that evolution. Where many felt that 2004’s rEVOLVEr and 2006’s The Dead Eye were a little too soft or maybe even watered down, I saw them as growth and expansion, even if they couldn’t really be called a bona fide death/thrash band anymore. Both were loaded with hooks and retained a sound that was undoubtedly The Haunted, just a little less furious than before. Versus on the other hand sees the band backtracking somewhat to a much more thrash aligned sound that recalls their first couple albums. Now before some of you get too excited, this isn’t a complete return to that sound of old. There are elements from virtually every past album represented here.

Album opener “Moronic Colossus” immediately shows a good deal of the past in its quick footed delivery and heavy handed approach. “Little Cage” wouldn’t have been out of place on the self-titled debut with it’s thrashed out verses and super catchy chorus that recalls “Invein” somewhat. “Crusher”, keeping true to its name crushes with speed and power, and also would be right at home on either of the first two albums.

“Pieces”, “Trenches”, “Ceremony”, “Iron Mask” and “Faultline” are all loaded with the mid paced melodic groove of rEVOLVEr and The Dead Eye, and only somewhat hint at the speed and fury of the early albums, though that latter song picks up the pace in the second half. Both “Skuld” and “Rivers Run” are much slower numbers that could slip right into The Dead Eye‘s track list, containing some of that almost creepy sounding whispered/spoken word bit that Peter Dolving does from time to time. Album closer “Imperial Death March” is the only true departure here, as it does in fact have a march like quality to it, and doesn’t really sound like anything they’ve done, but still certainly sounds like The Haunted.

I must say I rather enjoy Versus, but it’s not what I expected. Honestly I wanted another controversial head scratcher and another step in their progression, but instead I’ve gotten an album that simply treads the waters of old. Either way, if you’ve enjoyed all of their works, I don’t see why you wouldn’t like Versus as well. Though if you were hoping for a complete return to the sound of old, your time would be better spent checking out Casketgarden and The Scourger, as both of those bands borrow heavily from The Haunted’s early works, and pull it off convincingly. For me, when I need a dose of The Haunted, I’ll keep reaching for The Dead Eye, rEVOLVEr and of course, the self-titled.

Humorously titled, The Haunted Made Me Do It breaks new ground on three fronts: better vocals, varied drumming and diverse song structures. New vocalist Marco Aro (ex-Face Down) is a more suitable vocalist to the band’s elaborate thrash-meets-death-meets-hardcore approach – he’s even given the liberty to experiment with “clean” vocals on occasion. Aro displays his powerful vocals on the amazing At The Gates-inspired “Hollow Ground” and the rhythm intensive “Under the Surface.” Drummer Per Moller Jensen is also new to the Haunted fold. Filling ex-At The Gates drumgod Adrian Erlandson’s shoes should be difficult at best, but Jensen’s ability work a few poly-rhythms and even grind (“Revelation”) shows that he’s certainly the man to be behind Haunted’s already airtight rhythm section.

Even though the band’s debut album was visceral, it didn’t have the melodic edge of the new album. Guitarist Anders and bassist Jonas (both ex-At The Gates staffers) obviously contributed more to this album than before. Although, every song is centered on fast, thrash-based music, there’s a great attention to melodic details; At The Gates was renowned for its attention to melody. “As The World Burns” is a good example of this; there’s even a tribute of sorts to Metallica’s “Orion” halfway through the song. “Revelation” basically comes out of nowhere. It’s short, minute and a half song that shows that the Haunted aren’t afraid to lock it into overdrive and just jam. Basically, it’s barebones grindcore with a smattering of harmonic structure.

In reality, the Haunted has the capacity to be huge here, there’s just a lot of work ahead of them. The Haunted Made Me Do It is one album that is certainly be another step in the right direction. This is one album that’s not to be missed!