The Haunted - Eye of the Strom

(CD Single Review)

****

A very good comeback single!

After a very public and messy split with Peter Dolving last year also throwing in the exit of drummer Per M. Jenson and original guitarist Anders Bjorler things really weren't looking good for Gothenburg's finest. Lukewarm at best reviews of their last album 'Unseen' didn't help matter either. Speeding up to today we see a super group of The Haunted's history. Original drummer Adrian Erlandsson from their debut album has returned and we see the addition of guitarist Ola Englund (Ex-Six feet Under / Feared) and above all we see the return of the mighty Marco Aro. It will be very interesting to see what this line up comes up with as the band have evolved musically in many ways since 2006's 'The Dead Eye' onwards.

Would they be stripping things back to basics? and would that be a bad thing? After all lets be honest as versatile their material has become and as much a wider range vocally and as big a character Peter Dolving was, although technically he probably was the better singer you ask anyone what their favorite Haunted album is nine out of ten people will tell you 'The Haunted made me do it'. It's great to see Marco back in action, after his exit from The Haunted he did an album with his previous band Face Down which came and went but last year saw him return with a vengeance with The Resistance and their awesome debut 'Scars'.

This three track single looks to tie people over while they work on their next album and what do we have? Well frankly it's like everything after 'One kill Wonder' never happened! 'Eye of the Storm' is a mid paced chug-fest that gallops along with a melodic strumming that backs Marco's roar during the quite catchy chorus. It's a great single. 'Infiltrator' is classic Haunted whichever era, Classic Slayer Esq. riffing. During the mid section you know the haunted are back! and the solo is awesome. Third track 'My Enemy' is just under a minute long and its a minute of no nonsense Thrash Metal.

This is a great taster for the upcoming album and the impression the band have given off is that they are done with the experimentation. I like 'The Dead Eye' and I'm one of the few that actually appreciated 'Unseen' for what it was but at the end of the day we already have a Tool, we already have a Clutch 2013 should see the return of The Haunted that we fell in love with back in 1998. The band that would take over Slayer as the kings of Thrash!