THE HAUNTED
“STRENGTH IN NUMBERS”
Album Review By Gavin Brown
9/10
When The Haunted returned after the departure (for the second time) of Peter Dolving, who was replaced (again for the second time!) by Marco Aro, the band caused a splash with the subsequent album, 2014’s Exit Wounds, this was an album that renewed the spark in the bands music and they sounded renewed and more focused. They return now with their new album Strength In Numbers and sound just as focused as they did three years ago.
This might be a controversial opinion, but the vocals of Aro in The Haunted were much preferable to me (nothing against Dolving, I was and still am, a massive fan of Mary Beats Jane and respect his work with The Haunted but prefer Aro vocally, having been a fan of his previous band Face Down, in fact any fan of The Haunted should check out both those massively underrated bands if they haven’t already) as they seemed to better suit the riffing nature of the band’s music, so it’s a welcoming sound hearing him again. The mainstays of the band, guitarist Patrick Jensen, bassist Jonas Bjorler and drummer Adrian Erlandsson alongside newer six string recruit Ola Englund join Aro in another resurrection of the band and they do it in fine style.
An eastern sounding intro kicks things off on the brilliantly titled opener Fill The Darkness With Black before the band’s hard hitting thrash metal takes your head off with the aptly named Brute Force.
Even more so than Exit Wounds, Strength In Numbers harks back to when Aro first joined the band with the albums The Haunted Made Me Do It and One Kill Wonder and he still sounds as pissed off here as he did back then. Musically the band are so tight and that is testament to their ability as musicians (check out the huge riff on This Is The End for starters), having honed their razor sharp skills over the years (in classic bands like At The Gates and Witchery no less!) and they can still write songs that are as thought provoking and versatile (see closing track Monuments for proof), as they are heavy and Aro’s powerful vocals are the icing on a very metal cake. Especially on songs like Preachers Of Death and Tighten The Noose, where he lets loose with his intimidating roar but also shows his talents as a vocalist on the more melodic Spark and the albums title track, both of which are reminiscent of Under The Surface from the … Made Me Do It album and welcome additions to the band’s catalogue.
Strength In Numbers is a superb album and another welcome return from The Haunted. It is a prime slab of metal from a band that knows exactly what they are doing and it sounds great to have them back, doing what they do best, which is exactly what they do here.
TRACKLIST
Fill The Darkness With Black
Brute Force
Spark
Preachers Of Death
Strength In Numbers
Tighten The Noose
This Is The End
The Fall
Means To An End
Monuments
Released: 25th August 2017 via Century Media Records
http://the-haunted.com
https://www.facebook.com/hauntedofficial/
http://www.centurymedia.com/artist.aspx?IdArtist=121
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