:: The Haunted - Versus

The Haunted

Two years on from the superbly technical (and not to mention utterly sinister) 2006 release ‘The Dead Eye’, Sweden’s masters of thrash and hardcore are back with album number six. Packed with such trademarks as beat-heavy smackdowns, crunching riffs and paint-peeling vocals, ‘Versus’ sees The Haunted sounding more pissed off and generally awesome than ever. Uniting once again with producer Tue Madsen (he of previous albums ‘The Dead Eye’ at PUK, Antfarm and IF Studio, ‘Versus’ is solid proof that the Gothenburg five still have a sting in their tail. With original frontman (…or madman, you choose) Peter Dolving behind the mic tracks like opener Moronic Colossus, Little Cage and Crusher see The Haunted at their aggressive and uncompromising best with riffs that are sharp as knives and vocals that are one minute thrash metal growls and next minute spoken word. By god, there is even some melodic crooning… In a good way. Meanwhile, Rivers Run is a chuggathon of grinding riffs followed by what is quite possibly the standout track on the entire album, Iron Mask. According to the band members themselves, ‘Versus’ was apparently recorded live, which wouldn’t be so much a surprise as it would be an explanation for the raw-as-f**k quality of sound that makes this record so sonically fierce. This is an album that’s all about power and often with lyrics so personal you want to lower your eyes, but ‘Versus’ is also well balanced in heaviness and just enough catchiness to keep you coming back for more. This kind of vicious racket will kill in the moshpit. No frills here.