Although The Haunted will still be considered as a ‘new’ band or categorized as one of those ‘Neo-Thrash’ founders by some, they do have some nice aggressive riffs and tracks. I myself still enjoy tracks like ‘In Vein’, ‘Shadow World’ or ‘All Against All’. I know, these songs are on albums which have been released (more than) 10 years ago.
The last album became a ‘make or break’ album, on which they drifted off the path of Thrash and tried a more accessible approach. Many turned their backs on The Haunted, while some bandmembers felt they made a stunning album full of new and fresh ideas and are disappointed about all the negative reactions. Result: vocalist Dolving, one of the Björler bros and drummer Jensen left The Haunted.
With the return of Aro as vocalist, The Haunted got their navigation straight and walked back towards Thrash, but still in a modern, maybe a bit ‘Core’ even, way. The fast aggressive riffs can be labeled as typical The Haunted riffs, same goes for the groove. But some tracks have too many modern influences (for example ‘Trend Killer’ or ‘Ghost In The Machine’) to consider it as classic Swedish Neo-Thrash.
Enough strong tracks to create an aggressive EP (‘Cutting Teeth’, ‘My Enemy’), but for a full length there are too many fillers on ‘Exit Wounds’.
