In my limited exposure to the Swedish thrash metal scene, it is without a shred of doubt that THE HAUNTED are the golden standard. In just about every area, this band can sound harder, faster, more melodic, and better recorded than anything else originating from this planet. The trilogy of the band’s prior two releases, 2000′s The Haunted Made Me Do It, and 2003′s One Kill Wonder, plus this brand new slab of aural assault combine to make up one seriously ass-kicking set of tunes. Revolver brings about an important change for THE HAUNTED, as the release reunites the act with its original vocalist, Peter Dolving. In terms of musical progression, this two-time Swedish Grammy winning outfit tinkers around with the formula from their prior two releases to shape a newfound love for mid-tempo, bone-crushing tunes. While One Kill Wonder reached tempos of “ludicrous speed” throughout much of its duration, Revolver spends nearly a third of its time toying around with mid-tempo, bunker-blasting guitar chugs and crunches. The third track, “Abysmal,” introduces a gloomy element to the band’s normal, stealthy, manic pace, and its controlling atmosphere stands distinctively apart from the rip-your-eyes-out energy of the follow-up, “Sabotage.” The seventh track, “Burnt to a Shell,” is the other standout mid-tempo song, and it builds enormously towards a head-banging climax after a slicing solo. The rest of this release is vintage HAUNTED, with a dizzying sample of galloping drums, speedball guitarwork, and throaty, but lucid singing/screaming. Dolving is a masterful vocalist, and he shows off nearly all of his tricks on the fifth track, “All Against All,” hitting a range of notes that would cause the feeble to explode. “Hard hitting” is a description that’s probably overused with metal bands, but nonetheless, it’s likely the best two words available to detail the smackdown that’s delivered by THE HAUNTED on all 53 minutes of this release. Revolver offers absolutely no give on here, and while many metal bands feel the need to extend their artistry on their releases to cover genres outside the band’s general scope, THE HAUNTED know no such indulgence. Given the cross-appeal of THE HAUNTED, it’s particularly neat to note that SICK OF IT ALL’s Lou Koller offers up some guest vocals on the eighth track, “Who Will Decide,” and his up-and-down stomping influence reigns large above the trash carrying on below. There was a time where SICK OF IT ALL played music at the tempos reached by THE HAUNTED, and I’m sure that working with this band brought back some sweet memories for Koller. I purchased the limited-edition digipack version of Revolver, which contains two bonus songs, “Smut King,” and “My Shadow.” Besides the extra value of having those two songs, the digipak artwork is an awesome display of blood red, white, and black imagery, with a 14 page insert booklet. The whole feeling given from THE HAUNTED with Revolver is a band that means some serious business. One Kill Wonder was a glorious blast of energy and technical wizardly, but I think Revolver is the more enjoyable album overall. The sequencing on here is more engaging, and the band’s ability to do battle with both fast and slow tempos is an additional sword around the belt. This is about as flawless as a metal release gets…

Century Media

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