The Haunted
Revolver
Century Media

A few years ago, while I was fully immersed in metal, The Haunted became one of my favourite bands. Their first album took the art of the no-frills trash record to new heights; to me that record was better than Slayer's "Reign in Blood" or "Season in the Abyss", Metallica's "Master of Puppets" or Megadeth's "Peace Sells". It was a revelation and it carried afterwards a slew of other good (Darkane, Defleshed, The Crown) and not so good (Carnal Forge, Gandalf) bands that were brought to prominence at the end of the nineties. While The Haunted continued their road on the thrash map, in the process changing vocalist from Peter Dolving to Marco Aro, I lost a bit of interest. Aro's delivery, while aggressive, was run-of-the-mill death vocals that did absolutely nothing for me. The additional consequence was that the bands felt the need to go as aggressive as possible with Aro and were losing the subtle things that made them good in the first place.

Two records later: Dolving is back and so is the band. First of all, this supposed evolution of the band is not that big of a deal. What they did is finally picked some melodic elements in the old At the Gates' bag of tricks, which was left unopened since the demise of the band and the formation of this one. We are talking about a majority of the songs here being extremely up tempo and a few numbers being mid-paced. The return of Dolving permits the band to use his vast array of talents in different situations and vary the attack with a lot more ease than it would have been possible with Aro. Here is how it goes song per song:

"No Compromise" starts the record as if recorded in a shoe box with strange rhythm pattern before going all out in the traditional Slayer-at-their-best thrash number that starts off the record not only with a bang but also reintroduced shouted backing vocals to the foray, something that was never part of their arsenal with Aro. The slower mid-section is so chest-pumping heavy it is amazing.

"99" is a bit of lower bpm affair that brings memories of "The Red in the Sky is Ours", with a bit a more modern melodic gothenburg style but not without your scarifying on the violence.

"Abysmal" starts with clean guitars and Dolving doing what makes him a better fit for this band: the ability to actually sing (although he does very little of that on the record), and it is a nice change of pace. Once again this one lowers the bpm a little more and shows the band in all their mid-paced glory. This song sounds a bit like what Entombed sound like since the Death 'n Roll conversion.

"Sabotage" is one of those songs that is meant to blow your head clean off and does not quite succeed even though the song is pretty good. The breakdown at the end of the song particularly good the chorus just doen't do it.

"All Against All" is more of a mid-paced song that is probably the weakest on the entire album. I don't know why they felt the need to put it right in the middle of the album. It does have a nice lead and melodic guitar riff that accompanies it.

"Sweet Relief" is a throwback to the self-titled album: Fast and furious riffing but once again a very nice melodic lead and a breakdown changes things up mid song, much to my delight. This rocks.

"Burn to a Shell" once again displays Dolving's abilities, in the singing and screaming department. This could be considered The Haunted's ‘ballad' much like "Fade to Black" was but this one never stays in the ballad mode for long. Perhaps the strongest number on the album as it shows everything they are able to do, as well as combining them with a lot of ease.

"Who Will Decide" continues in the not-so-fast department but also shows just about every tempo change in a single song this band is able to do, and they do it well. Not the strongest song but certainly not the worst.

"Nothing Right". At this point if you did not enjoy the rest of the album, then you have no reason listening to this, but you would be missing out. The Haunted on this record throws at you everything but the kitchen sink and this song is a perfect example of subtle changes in riffs, stopping the guitars there and just changing things up mid-song. Just great stuff.

"Liquid Burns" continues the tradition of fast thrash and melodic enhancement this record brought to us.

"My Shadow" finishes the album, much like the self-titled one finished with a half spoken-word, half singing affair in depressing fashion. This is a good finishing song, although it is certainly not the band's strength.
- Simon Thibaudeau

Patrik Jensen of The Haunted and Witchery talks to Rockdetector about the latter's new album, the origin of the fames 'gothenburg sound' and more: https://www.rockdetector.com/artist,9090,interviews.sm#contenttop

Confirmed European tourdates for Dream Evil:

09/22 - Halle 400, Kiel (GER)
09/24 - Halle Gartlage, Osnabrück (GER)
09/25 - Maas En Waalhallen, Druten (NL)
09/26 - Filharmonie, Filderstadt (GER)
09/28 - E-Werk, Köln (GER)
09/29 - Aladin, Bremen (GER)
09/30 - Hugenottenhalle, Neu-Isenburg (GER)
10/01 - Lievens Houtem Cultureel Centrum, Sint (BEL)
10/02 - Astoria Theater, London (UK)
10/03 - Coal Exchange, Cardiff (UK)
10/04 - Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton (UK)
10/05 - King Tuts, Glasgow (UK)
10/17 - Pumpehuset, Copenhagen (DK)
10/18 - Rockefeller, Oslo (NOR)
10/19 - Trädgårn, gothenburg (SWE)
10/20 - Klubben, Stockholm (SWE)
10/21 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
11/13 - The Camden Underworld, London (UK)

The full schedule for the Misconduct/Ignite tour has been confirmed:

09/17 - Garage, London (UK)
09/18 - Matrix, Bochum (GER)
09/19 - Melkweg, Amsterdam (HOL)
09/20 - Kato, Berlin (GER)
09/21 - Loppen, Kopenhagen (DK)
09/22 - Klubben, Stockholm (SWE) w/Between Us
09/23 - Sticky Fingers, gothenburg (SWE)
09/24 - Skaters Palace, Münster (GER)
09/25 - Broekrock Festival, Hertsberge (BEL)
09/26 - Goudvishal, Arnheim (HOL)

Dream Evil will be supporting Saxon on the following European tour dates:

09/22 - Halle, Kiel
09/24 - Halle Gartlage, Osnabrück
09/25 - Maas En Waalhallen, Druten
09/26 - Filharmonie, Filderstadt
09/28 - E-Werk, Köln
09/29 - Aladin, Bremen
09/30 - Hugenottenhalle, Neu-Isenburg
10/01 - Lievens Houtem Cultureel Centrum, Sint
10/02 - Astoria Theater, London
10/03 - Coal Exchange, Cardiff
10/04 - Wulfrun, Wolverhampton
10/05 - King Tuts, Glasgow
10/17 - Pumpehuset, Copenhagen
10/18 - Rockefeller, Oslo
10/19 - Trädgarn, gothenburg
10/20 - Klubben, Stockholm
10/21 - KB, Malmö

Download an edited version of the new Mortiis single "The Grudge": https://www.earache.com/bands/mortiis/mp3/grudge_edit.mp3

In other news, it looks like that 'Unlimited Grudge' tour with Susperia will be stretching far beyond just the UK, as reported last week. Full tour dates so far, with more to come:

09/15 - Bar Fly, Cardiff (UK)
09/16 - Academy, Birmingham (UK)
09/17 - Rios, Bradford (UK)
09/18 - Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
09/20 - Academy, Liverpool (UK)
09/21 - Cathouse, Glasgow (UK)
09/22 - Arts Centre, Norwich (UK)
09/23 - Keynes Woughton Centre, Milton (UK)
09/24 - Ocean, London (UK)
09/25 - Concorde 2, Brighton (UK)
09/28 - tbc, tbc (FRA)
09/29 - Schwimmbad Club, Heidelberg (GER)
09/30 - Zeche Carl, Essen (GER)
10/01 - Rockfactory Halford, Berlin (GER)
10/02 - Juz, Andernach (GER)
10/04 - Vega, Copenhagen (DK)
10/05 - Voxhall, Arhus (DK)
10/06 - Folken, Stavanger (NOR)
10/07 - Flytten, Haugesund (NOR)
10/08 - Hulen, Bergen (NOR)
10/09 - John Dee, Oslo (NOR)
10/10 - Scene 37, Horten (NOR)
10/11 - Musikens Hus, gothenburg (SWE)
10/12 - Kulturbolaget (KB), Malmo (SWE)
10/14 - Nosturi, Helsinki (FIN)
10/15 - Lutakko, Jyvaskyla (FIN)
10/16 - Ground Zero, Tampere (FIN)
10/18 - Mulen Ruzas, Vilnius (LIT)
10/19 - Mega Club, Katowice (POL)
10/20 - Abaton, Prague (CZ)
10/21 - Kultiplex, Budapest (HUN)
10/22 - Hristo Botev Sports Hall, Sofia (BUL)
10/23 - Milos Club, Thessaloniki (GRE)
10/24 - An Club, Athens (GRE)
10/27 - Mochvara, Zagreb (CRO)
10/28 - Mostovna, Nova Gorica(SLO)
10/29 - VAZ Komma, Worgl (AUS)
10/30 - Orpheum, Graz (AUS)
10/31 - Arena, Vienna (AUS)
11/02 - Rockfabrik Z7, Pratteln (SWI)
11/03 - Transilvania Live, Bassano Del Grappa (ITA)
11/04 - Transilvania Live, Reggio Emilia(ITA)
11/05 - Transilvania Live, Milan (ITA)
11/06 - Tor 3, Osnabruck (GER)
11/07 - Garage, Munich (GER)
11/08 - Easy Schorre, Halle (GER)
11/09 - Marx Club, Hamburg (GER)
11/11 - Patronaat, Haarlem (HOL)
11/12 - Baroeg, Rotterdam (HOL)
11/13 - Goudvishal, Arnhem (HOL)
11/14 - Biebob, Vosselaar (BEL)

Updated Malkovich tourdates:

06/10 - Ungommenshus, Fredericia (DK) w/Modern Life is War (US)
06/11 - Tilflykt, Kongsberg (NOR) w/Modern Life is War
06/12 - Mosh Camp 04 / Kafé 44, Stockholm (SWE) w/Modern Life is War, Between Us (SWE)
06/13 - Skylten, Linkoping (SWE) w/Modern Life is War, Between Us (SWE)
06/14 - Meeths Salonger, gothenburg (SWE) w/Modern Life is War, Between Us (SWE)
06/15 - Elvaerket, Helsingor (DK) w/Modern Life is War
06/16 - Wild At Heart, Berlin (GER) w/Modern Life is War
06/17 - Wagon Club, Wraclow (POL) w/Modern Life is War
06/18 - Pegasus, Senftenberg (GER) w/Modern Life is War, Something Inside (GER), Nothing Ever Dies (GER)
06/19 - Crocodile, Eisenach / Wutha (GER) w/Modern Life is War, Today Forever (GER)
06/20 - need help!
06/21 - need help!
06/22 - need help!
06/23 - Winston, Amsterdam (NL) w/Modern Life is War, Killtraitors (NL)
06/24 - need help!
06/25 - need help!
06/26 - De Klos, Emmeloord (NL) w/Razor Crusade (NL)
06/27 - Talschock, Chemnitz (GER) w/Give Up the Ghost (US), The Hope Conspiracy (US), Rifu (NOR), Protestera (SWE)
06/28 - need help!
06/29 - Baracke, Münster (GER) w/Give Up the Ghost
06/30 - Exhaus, Trier (GER) w/Give Up the Ghost, Walls Of Jericho (US), Deadsoil (GER)
07/01 - Alte Mälzerei, Regensburg (GER) w/Give Up the Ghost
07/02 - Trafo, Budapest (HU) w/Give Up the Ghost, Shai Hulud (US)
07/03 - City Of... Fest 4/Mostovna, Nova Gorica (SLO)
07/04 - Sonica, Roma (ITA) w/Give Up the Ghost
07/05 - need help!
07/06 - Schlachthaus, Dornbirn (AUS) w/Give Up the Ghost, Modern Life is War
07/07 - Gotec, Karlsruhe (GER) w/Give Up the Ghost, Modern Life is War
07/08 - Molotov, Hamburg (GER) w/Give Up the Ghost
07/09 - B58, Braunschweig (GER) w/Give Up the Ghost, Force Of Change (GER)
07/10 - Simplicity Festival, Bodegraven (NL) w/Darkdayrising (NL), Sellfish (NL), Stench Town (NL)
07/30 - Texelfest (NL) w/Samaritan (NL), Death Pact (NL)
10/23 - Zomaarpop/OJC Watjang, Oirlo (NL)

The band's new CDEP "017" on Reflections Records and their CD remaster/reissue of the self-titled debut (now on Coalition) are both being released this week.

Sophie Zelmani summer tour dates:

06/02 - Liseberg, gothenburg
06/17 - Hultsfredsfestivalen, Hultsfred
07/09 - Gatufesten, Sundsvall
07/10 - Peace & Love, Borlänge
07/23 - Blue Balls Festival, Luzern
07/31 - Storsjöyran, Östersund

Updated tourdates for Swedish hardcore act Misconduct:

04/02 - Hamnmagasinet, Umea (SWE) w/Poison Idea
04/04 - Henriksberg, gothenburg (SWE) w/Poison Idea
04/30 - Henriksberg, gothenburg (SWE)
05/14 - The Purple Onion, Vancouver, BC (CAN)
05/15 - tba (CAN)
05/16 - tba (CAN)
05/17 - Wild Bills, Banff, AB (CAN)
05/18 - The Starlite, Edmonton, AB (CAN)
05/19 - The Warehouse, Calgary, AB (CAN)
05/20 - Riddell Centre, Regina, SK (CAN)
05/21 - WECC, Winnipeg, MB (CAN)
05/22 - Warp 9 Concert Hall, Thunder Bay, ON (CAN)
05/23 - The Eastgate / The Canadien, Sault Ste Marie, ON (CAN)
05/24 - Trasheteria, Guelph, ON (CAN)
05/25 - Call The Office, London, ON (CAN)
05/26 - tba (CAN)
05/27 - The Capital Music Hall, Ottawa, ON (CAN)
05/28 - L'Anti Hall, Quebec City, QC (CAN)
05/29 - Club Soda, Montreal, ON (CAN)
06/04 - Studentenhuset w/ Blister Head, Kobenhagen (DEN)
07/02 - With Full Force Festival, Roitschjora (GER) w/Agnostic Front, Ignite, Monster Magnet, Slipknot

All Canadian dates are with Big Wig, DBS, Belvedere and Tsunami Bomb.

Oslo, Norway's reknown nightclub Blå will be exporting their unique take on music programming to a host of international locations as part of the country's centennial anniversary in 2005. The club has been a lauchpad for a number of important Norwegian groups over recent years, one very notable group being Jaga Jazzist. The list of artists who are participating in the exchange are still yet to be determined, but the venue list includes Nefertiti in gothenburg (Sweden), The Spitz in London (UK), Empty Bottle in Chicago (USA), Copenhagen Jazzhouse in Copenhagen (Denmark), WMF in Berlin (Germany), Sonár Festival in Barcelona (Spain), Tings an Times in Pretoria (South Africa), and maybe Chinese Pilot or Art Garage in Moscow (Russia). Read more: https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2004030510392425617303

Legendary Norwegian black-metallers Mayhem will be heading out across Europe in April with Japan's Defiled. Dates:

04/08 - Loppen, Copenhagen (DK)
04/09 - Musikens Hus, gothenburg (SWE)
04/10 - Inferno Festival, Oslo (NOR)
04/11 - Klubben, Stockholm (SWE)
04/13 - Tavastia, Helsinki (FIN)
04/14 - Tampere Club, Tampere (FIN)
04/15 - Loop, Oulu (FIN)
04/18 - Park, Warsaw (POL)
04/19 - Halford, Berlin (GER)
04/20 - Abaton Club, Prague (CZR)
04/21 - Mega Club, Katowice (POL)
04/22 - Mega Pub, Budapest (HUN)
04/23 - Rockhouse, Salzburg (AUS)
04/24 - Titanic City, Munich (GER)
04/25 - Bad Bonn, Dudingen (SWI)
04/27 - Metalkova, Ljubljana (SLO)
04/28 - Motion, Zingoeni (BG) (IT)
04/29 - Alpheus, Rome (IT)
04/30 - MAC2, Schio (Vicenza) (IT)
05/01 - Portail Coucou, Salon-de-Provence (FR)
05/02 - K.G.B., Barcelona (SPA)
05/06 - Mean Fiddler, London (UK)
05/07 - Academy2, Birmingham (UK)
05/08 - Rios, Bradford (UK)
05/09 - King Tuts, Glasgow (UK)
05/11 - Muziek-o-droom, Hasselt (BEL)
05/12 - De Kade, Zaadam (NL)
05/13 - Vera, Groningen (NL)
05/14 - Burning Stage Festival @ Tor3, Osnabrück (GER)
05/15 - Markthalle, Hamburg (GER)
05/16 - Voxhall, Århus (DK)

It's been talked about here before, but now it's official: Nikola Sarcevic of Millencolin will be releasing a solo album. The disc will be called "Lock-Sport-Krock" and will be out on Burning Heart on March 29. Here's what Nikola had to say about it:

"Last summer I entered [Kalle from TSOOL's] Svenska Grammofon Studion in gothenburg to record something that would eventually turn out as an album. Together with Henrik Wind (the Peepshows), Thomas Falk (Bombshell Rocks), Mieszko Talarczyk (Nasum) and some other friends and musicians, I recorded 13 songs, of which 11 will be on the album. Soundwise, the material ranges from Boogie-Woogie to Country and Folkrock. I think the word love is mentioned in each and every song, so If there is a "Theme of the album", it's definitely LOVE. Otherwise I would say that the songs are quite different to each other and a lot different to what I've done with Millencolin. I hope you will check it out!"

Upcoming European tourdates for Gluecifer, who be supporting Monster Magnet along with The Quill. ** means the show is Gluecifer only:

02/20 - Civic hall, Wolverhampton (UK)
02/21 - Rockcity, Nottingham (UK)
02/22 - MDH, Manchester (UK)
02/24 - Dublin (IRL)
02/25 - Garage, Glasgow (SCO)
02/26 - Roadmenders, Northampton (UK)
02/28 - La Trabendo, Paris (FR)
02/29 - AB, Brussels (BEL)
03/01 - Melkweg, Amsterdam (NL)
03/02 - Jovel, Münster (GER)
03/03 - Max, Kiel (GER) **
03/04 - KB, Mälmo (SWE)
03/05 - Trädgårn, gothenburg (SWE)
03/06 - Sombrero, Ørebro (SWE) **
03/07 - tba, Turku (FIN) **
03/08 - Tavastia, Helsinki (FIN)
03/10 - Arenan, Stockholm (SWE)
03/11 - Pumpehuset, Copenhagen (DK)
03/12 - Voxhall, Arhus (DK)
03/13 - Schlachthof, Lingen (GER) **
03/14 - Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg (GER)
03/15 - Capitol, Hannover (GER)
03/16 - Live music hall, Cologne (GER)
03/17 - Schlacthof, Wiesbaden (GER) **
03/18 - Columbiahalle, Berlin (GER)
03/19 - Schlachthof, Dresden (GER)
03/20 - Stodola, Warsawa (PL)
03/22 - Palace Acropolis, Prague (CZ)
03/23 - Longhorn, Stuttgart (GER)
03/24 - Löwesaal, Nürnburg (GER)
03/26 - Elserhalle, München (GER)
03/27 - Planet, Vienna (AUS)
03/28 - Orpheum, Graz (AUS)
03/30 - Transilvania, Milan (IT)
03/31 - Circolo Degli, Rome (IT)
04/01 - New age, Treviso (IT)
04/02 - Transilvania, Reggio Emilia (IT) **
04/03 - Fri-son, Fribourg (CH)
04/04 - Rote Fabriek, Zürich (CH)
04/05 - Razzmatazz, Barcelona (ES)
04/06 - Arena, Madrid (ES)
04/07 - tba, Bilbao (Basque) **
04/08 - Transbourder, Lyon (FR)
04/09 - La Laiterie, Strassbourg (FR)
04/11 - Paaspop Festival, Schijndel (NL)
04/12 - Sheperds Bush Empire, London (UK)

The new album comes out January 26 and the first single will be "A Call from the Other Side". Look for a video from director Amir Chamdin (Cardigans, The Hellacopters, Tityo, The Ark) who works under world-famous director Jonas Åkerlund's production company.

Cult of Luna has finally confirmed their upcoming Scandinavian tourdates:

11/25 - Debaser, Stockholm (SWE) w/Switchblade
11/26 - Ungdomens hus, Uppsala (SWE) w/Switchblade
11/27 - Subscene, Oslo (NOR)
11/28 - Musikens hus, gothenburg (SWE)
11/29 - Gislaved (SWE) CANCELLED
11/30 - Tivoli, Helsingborg (SWE) w/Nebula
12/01 - Skylten, Linköping (SWE)

Don't forget - they're touring the UK with Dillinger Escape Plan in December, too:

12/07 - Riot fest, Antwerp (BEL)
12/08 - Concorde 2, Brighton (UK)
12/09 - Academy 2, Birmingham (UK)
12/10 - Hop & Grape, Manchester (UK)
12/11 - Fleece And Firkin, Bristol (UK)
12/12 - Cathouse, Glasgow (UK)
12/13 - Rock city, Nottingham (UK)
12/14 - Meanfiddler (K-fest show), London (UK)

Amorphis reports that drummer Jan Rechberger will not be joining the rest of the band on their upcoming due to an accident in his family. Instead, Atte Sarkima from Verenpisara will be behind the kit. Dates:

10/22 - Klubben, Stockholm (SWE) w/Paradise Lost
10/23 - KB, Malmö (SWE) w/Paradise Lost
10/24 - Rockafeller, Oslo (NOR) w/Paradise Lost
10/25 - Kåren, gothenburg (SWE) w/Paradise Lost
10/26 - Vega, Copenhagen (DK) w/Paradise Lost
10/28 - Logo, Hamburg (GER)
10/29 - Matrix, Bochum (GER)
10/30 - Columbiafritz, Berlin (GER)
10/31 - Alte Spinnerei, Glauchau (GER)
11/01 - Rock It, Aalen (GER)
11/02 - Live Club, Bamberg (GER)
11/03 - Abart, Zurich (SWI) w/Paradise Lost
11/04 - Transilvania Live, Milan (IT)
11/18 - Astoria, London (UK) w/Paradise Lost
12/13 - Ydrogios, Thessaloniki (GRE)
12/14 - Gagarin205, Athens (GRE)