The Haunted

The Haunted is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed in 1996 in Gothenburg. The original members were Patrik Jensen (also member of Witchery) on guitar, Jonas Björler (bass), Adrian Erlandsson (drums), Anders Björler (guitar), and Peter Dolving (vocals). Both of the Björler brothers and Erlandsson were members of seminal melodic death metal band At the Gates, a pioneering force in the Swedish death metal scene. All members (past and present) are from Gothenburg, Sweden, with the exception of Patrik Jensen, who is from Linköping, Sweden, and Per Möller Jensen, who is from Denmark. History The Haunted (1996–2000) The band released their first album, while signed to Earache Records, the selftitled debut The Haunted, in 1998. Before this, they had also made their demo, called Demo '97, in 1997. The album resulted in The Haunted being praised as Newcomer of the Year by several magazines, and the album being called Album of the Year by Terrorizer Magazine. The Haunted made a respectable live reputation staging the Swedish metal scene, as well the international scene, touring the UK with Napalm Death. Complementing the collective instrumental virtuosity was Dolving's performance, which - graced with unflinching candor and scalpel-like insight into human behavior - navigated fearlessly through the explorations into the power of the human voice and the depths of unmitigated anger. After the release of this album, Peter Dolving and Adrian Erlandsson both left the band in 1999, the latter joining Cradle of Filth. The Haunted Made Me Do It (2000–2003) Marco Aro was recruited as a new vocalist and Per Möller Jensen as drummer. Their second album, The Haunted Made Me Do It, released in 2000, and was more melodic and resembled the Gothenburg style (with bands such as At the Gates etc) more than old-school thrash metal that was used on The Haunted. It is originally called "Made Me Do It", but it is meant for the band name to be included in the title. The Haunted Made Me Do It topped CMJ Loud Rock Radio Chart in four weeks, and won a Swedish Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Album". The album was followed by European tours with Entombed and Nile, The Crown in UK, and In Flames in Japan. The Haunted played on festivals such as 2000 Decibel, Hultsfred (both in Sweden), Graspop (Belgium), and Wacken Open Air (Germany). The band subsequently released their first and so far only live album - Live Rounds in Tokyo. Nothing seemed to be able to stop the band, until August 2001, when guitarist / songwriter Anders Björler left the band and he was temporarily replaced by Marcus Sunesson of The Crown for The Haunted's headlining tour; in less than a year Björler returned to the band. Perfect timing for being featured on the third studio album. One Kill Wonder (2003–2004) The next album was released in February 2003 and was titled One Kill Wonder. The Haunted broke their own record being listed at number one on CMJ Loud Rock Radio Chart in five weeks. Alternative Press hailed The Haunted as one of metal's 25 most important bands. The album resulted in The Haunted dominating album charts all over the world, and their first tours to Australia and South Africa, another tour to Japan, and a second Grammy. After another tour to Scandinavia, North America, United Kingdom and Europe in the fall of 2003, the sudden departure of Marco Aro came as a shock. Though, this opened a new chance of building up a reunion with former vocalist Peter Dolving. The song "D.O.A." from this album became available for download in March of 2008 for the video game Rock Band, on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace, and the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network.[1] Another song from the same album, Shadow World, was announced as a future download. rEVOLVEr (2004–2006) Their first album with Peter Dolving back at the helm (and signed by a new deal with Century Media), was entitled rEVOLVEr. The new album was released in October 2004 and named as it was to convey the evolution of the band and the music it plays as a whole. "rEVOLVEr" was met with a fair amount of fan support and critical acclaim, and the band toured the world extensively in support of it, including a second stage spot at Ozzfest 2005. In February 2 of 2005, Marco Aro played his last show in Stockholm, Sweden but as a guest singer. The Dead Eye (2006–2007) The Haunted's fifth studio album, The Dead Eye, was released on October 30, 2006 in Europe and so far has been a huge success, showing a more sinister side to Dolving's vocals and a more technical, haunting musical display. It was released in the USA on October 31, 2006.[2] They later toured Europe and toured with Dark Tranquillity, Into Eternity, and Scar Symmetry for the North America Metal For The Masses tour.[3] They recently toured Europe for the Cursed Earth tour with bands like Wolf, Municipal Waste, and Lyzanxia and took a break to later return to play in tours and some shows in Russia.[4][5] Versus (2008–present) They have recently finished their 6th studio album Versus and will be released on September 17-27, 2008 in Europe and October 14 in the USA. Influence and musical style Some people brand The Haunted's music as thrash metal, but their sound follows more closely the style of melodic death metal.[citation needed] Some of their music incorporates hardcore punk/crossover thrash influences and occasional Machine Head-style groove metal passages.[citation needed] The Haunted's music has had an influence on the style of metalcore.[citation needed] The latest album, The Dead Eye displayed a heavily melodic, slowed down, and melancholic approach (in terms of both musicianship and song writing) which was introduced on rEVOLVEr.[citation needed] Also a darker approach to Peter Dolving's lyrics was introduced which included more personal content.[