UMUR "rEVOLVEr" is the fourth full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act The Haunted. The album was released through Century Media Records in October 2004. It´s the successor to "One Kill Wonder" from 2003 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as lead vocalist Marco Aro left to concentrate on his family. He is replaced here by Peter Dolving, who also performed on the band´s 1998 debut album, so it´s a return to the fold for him.

The change on the lead vocalist spot is rather significant for the sound on "rEVOLVEr". While Aro is a raw semi-growling type vocalist, Dolving has evolved quite a bit since his performance on The Haunted´s debut album, and now possesses a highly aggressive and raw thrash/hardcore vocal style. He also performs a few clean vocal parts to great effect (his clean vocal intro to "Abysmal" is for example very effectful). The clean vocal parts are few and far between though, and the raw vocals are Dolving´s primary vocal style on "rEVOLVEr". The instrumental part of the music is still energetic and fast-paced thrash metal and occasionally mid-paced, groove laden, and heavy thrash metal too. I hear a few melodic elements (for example the main riff on "All Against All") which wasn´t something you heard often on "One Kill Wonder (2003)", but "rEVOLVEr" is not a melodic thrash metal album by any means. Raw aggression and high energy compositions are predominantly the order of the day.

The album is loaded with killer riffs, catchy sing/scream along vocal parts, and powerful organic drumming, which drive the music forward in an irresistable fashion. The Slayer influence which was always strong on the preceding releases is less apparent here, although it´s definitely still there. Just take a listen to the riffs on the middle section of "99" or the tapped part of the guitar solo on the same track, which must almost be a homage to the tapped part of the guitar solo on the title track from Slayer´s 1990 "Seasons in the Abyss" album.

There´s not a single sub par track on the album, but if highlights have to be mentioned I´ll mention the opening trio of tracks "No Compromise", "99", and "Abysmal", as absolutely crushing material but at the same time fully displaying the variation of the band´s music. Closing track "My Shadow" deserves a special mention too for its use of non-distorted guitars and strong clean singing/spoken word sections from Dolving. It´s not always it sounds pretty when extreme metal singers decide to perform clean vocals, but damn Dolving is as great singing clean vocals as he is performing his caustic raw vocals. There is some real personality on display here and you believe him when he describes himself (It could be another person, but I interpret the lyrics to be personal) in a self-loathing way on the chorus of "Abysmal", singing the lines: "This one is abysmal, This is a oneway ticket down, Some say there ain't nothing to lose, but I lost that too, So what am I gonna do now?". There´s just something incredibly convincing about his commanding delivery which has great impact on the listener.

"rEVOLVEr" features a sharp, raw, and heavy sound production, which suits the rawness and energy of the material perfectly. While "One Kill Wonder (2003)" is certainly a great album in its own right, "rEVOLVEr" is a step up in songwriting quality and especially in performances. Not that the band weren´t energetic and aggressive in the past, but Dolving´s return seems to have given them an extra energy boost, and you´ll be hard pressed to mention another contemporary thrash metal release as vibrant, sharp, and hard edged as "rEVOLVEr". To my ears it´s a seminal post-2000 thrash metal release and of course a mandatory listen for fans of the genre. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "One Kill Wonder" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act The Haunted. The album was released through Earache Records in February 2003. It´s the successor to "Made Me Do It" from 2000 and features the same five-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor although guitarist Anders Björler brieftly left the band in 2001. He however returned in time to participate in the writing and recording of the material for "One Kill Wonder". A lineup change would happen in October 2003 though as lead vocalist Marco Aro would leave to concentrate on his family. He would be replaced by returning original singer Peter Dolving (who sang on the band´s self-titled debut album from 1998).

It´s still Aro who performs on "One Kill Wonder" though and his raw screaming (and occasionally semi-growling) vocal delivery is pretty savage. The material on the 11 track, 38:16 minutes long album are in the brutal and raw end of the thrash metal spectrum, and especially Slayer is an obvious influence (to the point of being close to ripp-off on the clean guitar break section of opening track "Privation of Faith Inc."). The Haunted deliver both scorching thrashers like "Godpuppet" and the ferocious closing title track, and more mid-paced heavy thrash metal tracks like "D.O.A." and "Bloodletting", with the same amount of passion and conviction. Aro is not the most versatile vocalist, and his vocals are a bit grating on the ears throughout a full album, and if there is to be a minor complaint, that would be it. There´s not a finger to put on the instrumental part of the album, which is reasonably varied, powerful, and impactful.

The Haunted are a well playing band and the music is not only delivered with great technical skill, but also with the right amount of raw organic power. This is not one of those digital clean produced thrash metal albums from post-2000, which often come across a bit sterile and lacking rawness and thrash metal authenticity. "One Kill Wonder" reeks of both and it´s a high quality thrash metal release through and through. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Made Me Do It" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act The Haunted. The album was released through Earache Records in October 2000. There´s been a couple of lineup changes since the self-titled debut as lead vocalist Peter Dolving has been replaced by Marco Aro, and Adrian Erlandsson has been replaced by Danish drummer Per M. Jensen (Invocator, Artillery).

Stylistically the music on "Made Me Do It" more or less continues down the same path as on the self-titled debut. That means aggressive thrash metal with occasional melodic death metal traits. Slayer is the most obvious influence, but there are naturally also some traces in the music of the Björler brother´s former act At The Gates. The change on the lead vocalist spot isn´t that obvious as Peter Dolving and Marco Aro at that point had a relatively similar vocal style. Distorted and aggressive raw singing that occasionally touches semi-growling territory. Aro also experiements with clean (well...effect laden) vocals on "Hollow Ground" and succeeds in doing so.

"Hollow Ground" is as a result one of the standout tracks on the album, but tracks like "Bury Your Dead" and "Leech" could also be mentioned among the highlights. All material on the 11 track (the Japanese version features a bonus track), 36:09 minutes long album are of a high quality though and "Made Me Do It" is overall a consistent quality release. It´s relatively varied too with both fast-paced thrashers, and more mid-paced heavy tracks. A few tracks even feature some atmospheric moments.

Another great asset is the skillful delivery of the music. While everything is delivered with militant precision there´s also a great organic touch to the playing, which provides the material with an important human touch. That is further enhanced by a raw, powerful, and organic sounding production, which suits the music perfectly. So upon conclusion "Made Me Do It" is a quality sophomore studio album by The Haunted, that isn´t terribly different in sound and style to their debut album, but which still comes off as more developed and catchy. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Exit Wounds" is the 8th full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act The Haunted. The album was released through Century Media Records in August 2014. There have been quite a few lineup changes since "Unseen (2011)" as lead vocalist Peter Dolving has left for a second time and has been replaced by another former Haunted vocalist in Marco Aro (who sang on "The Haunted Made Me Do It (2000)" and on "One Kill Wonder (2003)"), guitarist Anders Björler has been replaced by Ola Englund, and Per M. Jensen has been replaced by new drummer Adrian Erlandsson. The latter was an original member of the band from 1996 - 1999 and played on the band´s self-titled 1996 debut full-length studio album. The only usual suspects left in the lineup on "Exit Wounds" are Patrik Jensen (guitars) and Jonas Björler (bass). So there´s basically been a complete reorganization of the lineup, but with a couple of familiar faces joining.

From the opening notes of "Cutting Teeth" (which follows the short intro "317") it´s obvious that the lineup changes haven´t had much effect on the band´s signature thrash metal sound, because this sounds unmistakably like The Haunted. Since his first tenure with the band Marco Aro has developed a less semi-growling vocal style and now has adopted a more hardcore shouting vocal style not completely unlike his predecessor. He still sounds rather gruff and semi-growling at times though, so this is not metalcore vocals or anything like that. Stylistically I´d say "Exit Wounds" easily could have been the missing link between "rEVOLVEr (2004)" and "The Dead Eye (2006)". It´s got the savage aggression and thrash metal speed and heaviness of the former (and a sound production that´s not far from it either) and the more melodic elements from the latter. There´s obviously been a wish among the songwriting team to write music with nods toward that period of the band´s career (which was arguably also their most successful period) and to not pursue the more alternative oriented sound of "Unseen (2011)".

And they succeed in that to a certain degree, because the material on the 14 track, 44:08 minutes long album are pretty solid, very well performed (even though Marco Aro is a slightly one-dimensional vocalist), and very well produced thrash metal with groove metal and melodic elements. When that is said, the tracks seldom reach excellence and at times I feel like I´m listening to a pale copy of The Haunted when they were in their prime. A bit harsh maybe and a description like that shouldn´t scare away those interested in aggressive thrash metal with groove metal and melodic elements. It´s still a quality release, but that special magic they conjured up during their peak years isn´t as strong anymore as it used to be. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Haunted" is the self-titled debut full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act The Haunted. The album was released in June 1998 by Earache Records. Fresh out of At The Gates the Björler Brothers (Jonas on bass and Anders on guitar) and drummer Adrian Erlandsson teamed up with lead vocalist Peter Dolving (Mary Beats Jane) and guitarist Patrik Jensen (who had played with Seance and Satanic Slaughter in the early- to mid nineties) to form "The Haunted". The ambition was to write and play some really kick ass thrash metal. Most of the output by At The Gates was of an experimental death metal nature but the last album before the band split-up "Slaughter of the Soul (1995)" actually hinted at a more direct thrashy direction.

So while The Haunted is not a continuation of At The Gates under a different monicker, there are definitely stylistic elements from the latter part of At The Gates discopgraphy that became part of the sound of The Haunted.

The music on the album is aggressive thrash metal. The vocals are raw and shouting. The pace is mostly fast and the riffing ditto. I think there is a pretty obvious influence from Slayer in the music, but The Haunted do have their own sound. There is not much melody to be found on the album but the tracks are still relatively memorable and at times even hook laden (I think most people can shout along to the chorus in a track like "Hate Song"). The 12 tracks on the 41 minutes long album are all pretty equal in quality and "The Haunted" comes off as a very consistent album. There are not many highlights on the album though and honestly I´m not able to remember each track when the album is over. I think the sound production is partially to blame for that. It´s not a very dynamic production and the songs have a tendency to flow together.

Besides the above mentioned issues "The Haunted" is still a very strong thrash metal album and if you like your thrash metal raw, fast and aggressive, the album is recommended. The Haunted would release much better albums later on in their career, but for a debut album this one is solid and a 3.5 star rating is deserved.