The Haunted – Unseen

10 November 2011

1. Never Better
2. No Ghost
3. Catch 22
4. Disappear
5. Motionless
6. Unseen
7. The Skull
8. Ocean Park
9. The City
10. Them
11. All Ends Well
12. Done

You know what the Haunted are these days? They’re the whipping boys of heavy metal. Sad but true and it can’t be helped. Since their last effort at manliness called “rEVOLVEr” was never repeated again, The Haunted have been content to operate at glass is half empty. It’s a cruel fate for five Swedish dudes who reinvented thrash metal 11 years ago. Alas, the impulses of Jacob Jensen and his mainman Peter Dolving could not be stopped. The guys wanted to shift gears on succeeding alums and shift gears they did, no matter the suffering inflicted on their faithful listeners.

Suffering is indeed the likely reaction to the fresh batch of material on “Unseen.” Despite the talented personnel in the band, “Unseen” simply fails to deliver the expected drama, the thrilling intensity, the all out no-holds-barred firestorm the world needs from these guys. Okay, so the new material’s predecessor “Versus” marked a return to the heavy stuff, but that album was glass is half empty too. The band are already too comfortable in the particular niche they’ve wormed themselves into. Yet why does “Unseen” prove so unsatisfying? It’s because the Haunted have switched genres.

Terrible, huh? It can’t be missed here. Most of the songs on this platter hardly register in the metal spectrum. Expect hook laden riffs and weird lyrics about Dolving’s…whatever. The lyrics don’t matter as much as the palpable mood that infects the tunes here. The Haunted may have changed colors for “Unseen,” yet an indelible part of the band remains amid the general awfulness. Throughout the albums [boring] twists and turns, there lurks the quintet’s gloomy signature. The Haunted were always a dark bunch anyway, possessed by demos within and without. It’s a condition that paints some of the tunes here a few shades scarier than usual. For proof, try the album closer “Done” or “The City.” Vibrant perhaps until the heavy rain comes pouring down to soak everything in its gray glumness. No matter where the band turn, the storm clouds are never far away.

“Unseen” begins on a dispiritng note with the ironic “Never Better” that’s followed by the flicker of hope “No Ghost.” What comes next sucks and so does what follows after it. Apply the same to the title track, “The Skull,” and the weird half baked jive “Ocean Park.” Is there a glimmer of hope amid the tragic musical circumstances? Yes, thanks to a little guitar soloing, a little change in Dolving’s singing style, a little heaviness too and little else besides. Sigh.