The Haunted - One Kill Wonder

If there is one band that is responsible for the current resurrection of thrash, its Sweden’s The Haunted. Since their inception in 1998, the band have been hailed as the current leaders in a genre that had faded steadily since the late 1980’s. One Kill Wonder, their third album, does nothing to tarnish that legacy and should only propel the band to further heights.

I must admit, rather embarrassingly, that I had certain worries about the direction the band would take after their 2000 album The Haunted Made Me Do It. The Haunted Made Me Do It hinted at a more melodic direction from the band. And that’s not a bad thing, but lets face it, when it comes to a band like The Haunted, nobody wants to see them employ a keyboard player or sing melodically. The thing that has always separated The Haunted from their Swedish peers is their penchant for pure speed and brutality.

After a short instrumental opening, my worries were instantly thrown out the window after “Godpuppet” roared through my stereo like nothing else had in months. “Godpuppet” is a short raging blast of thrash metal if there ever was one. Drummer Per Moller Jensen races through the song, providing a strong backbone for the frenetic riffing and the crazed Slayer-inspired short solos. The strongest point of this album however, may be the roaring growl of vocalist Marco Aro. His voice carries these songs straight out of the pits of hell and elevates them to barbaric proportions. He may be the only vocalist on earth, besides Mikael from Opeth, who gets more brutal and heavy with every passing album. The rest of the album follows the path beaten by “Godpuppet.” Song after song, The Haunted play with power and conviction, something that’s rare these days. And I’m happy to say that the production has been beefed up once again giving the low end more prominence and lending a rougher, more distorted quality to the guitar tone.

Overall, anyone even remotely interested in thrash owes it to his/herself to check out One Kill Wonder. If The Haunted can’t restore your faith in pure, no bullshit, thrash metal, nobody can.

Reviewed by: Craig McCullough

Ex-Face Down vocalist Marco Aro and ex-Konkhra drummer Per Moller Jensen hooked up and now comes One Kill Wonder. A two minute instrumental ("Privation of Faith Inc.") kicks things off and then comes the thrash, "Godpuppet" hits and runs before you know it. While all eleven tracks are excellent, it's "D.O.A." which is absolutely amazing. It's got a crushing groove riff and Aro's most intense rasp. Aro is the perfect vocalist for The Haunted's brutal thrash assault. The Haunted are not as fast or as extreme as your typical Swedish thrash act, but they do fit in perfectly with bands like Carnal Forge and Ebony Tears.