Smother Magazine Band Spotlight: Haunted
In these days of such ubiquitous member-shared bands making second rate music, The Haunted are a welcome change. Featuring ex-At The Gates brothers Anders and Jonas Bjorler and Adrian Erlandsson, Séance's Jensen, and Peter Dolving of Mary Beats Jane, The Haunted have the Metal veteranship necessary for a great band. They formed initially without Dolving, but in their search for a singer, his performance immediately convinced them this was the man for the job [see Smother's interview with Jensen]. Their 1998 Earache self-titled debut album stands up to the test. Speed and amazing riffery without overblown melodies carry Dolving's unadulterated throat wrenches across a super sonic blast of skin-pounding fury. The fury is a volatile one—the kind that makes a lethal transfer from album to stage. Look out for a tentative tour the first half of 1999, but take Jensen's advice, "It might be lethal." Throwing tons of stunning Thrash at the listener, The Haunted assert themselves as experts in a newer kind of Metal. A kind of Metal that I hope is the future of the most holy of genres.
Current Releases:
The Haunted
Web site(s) to check out: