When
Swedish melodic death metal/post-thrash outfit The Haunted released their fifth
studio album 'The Dead Eye' in 2006, it took many by surprise. Instead of reproducing
more of what the band had delivered in the past, The Haunted (who comprise of
vocalist Peter Dolving, guitarists Patrik Jensen and Anders Björler, bassist
Jonas Björler and drummer Per Möller Jensen) instead decided to experiment,
with the album boasting a darker, mid-tempo and more atmospheric approach to their
sound. Despite receiving mixed reviews upon release, 'The Dead Eye' proved that
The Haunted were willing to try something new and push the envelope of experimentation
beyond fan's expectations.
Two years on and The Haunted are
back with their sixth full-length release 'Versus'. With the album having just
hit the shelves, and the band about to undertake another tour down here in Australia,
I caught up with vocalist Peter Dolving at home in Sweden to talk about the new
album, and the positives responses to the band's return to their classic sound.
"Everyone
who likes gothic metal, make-up and vampirism will obviously hate us of course!
(Laughs) But seriously, we're getting pretty mixed opinions about the new album.
But that's cool. I think that's a really good thing. I mean, there was like a
horrendous review in Terrorizer Magazine. At first I was a little taken aback,
but then I realised that the author was out of the loop and that he had no clue.
Because of that, it really didn't matter in the end. I understand that 'Versus'
is an album that you'll dig and get into if you're into The Haunted. But if you're
not into the band, don't really know a lot about the band and you're really opinionated,
then this is one of those albums that you can really get into and dissect and
throw shit at! (Laughs) I think it's definitely a rock out and confronting kind
of an album. And that's something that we're really happy with. That's kind of
the point of the album."
While some fans may be a little
cautious about the direction of 'Versus', they needn't be worried as the album
sounds like a mix of 'rEVOLVEr' (2004) and 'The Dead Eye', along with a couple
of new surprises thrown into the mix.
"I think we tried
to write a mixture of songs with all the stuff that we think is cool, that we
like to play and that we really enjoy hearing. I think it also grew out of touring,
as well. When we started talking about making this album about a year and a half
ago, the conversations really revolved around talking about all the good things
that we liked each other doing. So it was like, 'You know when you do that thing
when you play that kind of riff, I really like that!' I mean we're family, as
well as friends. We spend more time together than we do with our other families!
(Laughs) So as the conversations progressed, we started asking ourselves why we
play the songs we do? Why do we play particular songs over and over again? In
the end, it turned out to be certain things that we really enjoy, and it was those
things that we wanted to get better at and see evolve from what we originally
did. And I think musically, that's where this album really takes off."
With
a renewed focus on what they wanted to achieve from a song writing point of view,
the band headed into the studio to lay down 'Versus'. And it was this clear idea
of what they were setting out to achieve that allowed the recording sessions for
'Versus' to be the band's quickest and most stress free to date.
"We
had the album written well before we started recording it, and that says a lot.
I mean we put a lot of work into this one ahead of time. We made sure that we
had the album thoroughly rehearsed before we headed into the studio. We had it
so down, that it took us like eight days to put the album together. We virtually
recorded like a couple of tracks a day. On top of that, Anders Björler did
some solos, and then I put the vocals down. That took an extra five or six days,
or something like that. So it was a very quick and laid back recording process
really. Overall, 'Versus' was easily the easiest album we've ever recorded."
As
you would expect, 'Versus' contains its fair share of classic thrash anthems that
have become a trademark of The Haunted, but perhaps one of the most striking is
the album's opening track 'Moronic Colossus', which is full of Dolving's biting
lyricisms.
"I think lyrically, that song is more about
an attitude, rather than aiming at any one particular person. I could write down
a list of thousands of people that I could relate that song to. I quite literally
used to have a black book man! (Laughs) I'm seriously not kidding you! But it's
way beyond that. We could all be the moronic colossus at times. More than anything,
I think it's really about an attitude. It's that attitude of ignorance that's
kind of absorbed all of our culture. It seems to be O.K. to be a fucking idiot!
It's seems to be O.K. to project this redneck, macho, bullshit kind of persona.
It's not even macho. It's more this icky kind of surface crap that we portray
to others, and that mindset that thinks its O.K. being a moron just for the sake
of being a moron. It's about trivialising human beings, and defending that kind
of shit. People are vigilant about it. It's tooth and nail. They think it's their
right to be a fucking idiot! (Laughs) What I say is fuck them, and fuck the attitude!
Because in the end, when it comes down to it, if you're on a one to one basis
with someone, face to face, people are not that stupid. People are not morons,
or idiots. But a lot of the time, we choose to be morons, and that's really sad."
As
mentioned earlier, 'Versus' still retains some of the band's experimental feel
of 'The Dead Eye', particularly in the moody and strange sounding 'Skuld'.
"That
song is more of an emotive interlude. O.K. let me put my pretentious hat on for
a moment! (Laughs) 'Skuld' is a Swedish word that means guilt. There's kind of
a Swedish folk song that is called something along the lines of 'Consolation Song'.
It's a song that you sing to someone who's really sad or heartbroken, or a child
that can't sleep. We're not a very Christian country, even though the church is
really big here. Profane music has always been very strong, and that has helped
keep traditions here in Sweden alive and really strong. We've never had the really
strong Catholic world here either. But we've always had our own ways of dealing
with pain and shame. In other words, we don't need a priest to tell us! (Laughs)
It's O.K.; we'll take care of each other. That's kind of the idea of where that
song came from. It's sort of saying that it's O.K. to allow the weight to come
off your shoulders, so that you no longer have to carry the burden. It's a way
of moving on once it's gone."
With three truly diverse
and stunning releases under their belt, The Haunted is well and truly on the top
of their game. But while it's clear that The Haunted have always been together
in a musical sense, Dolving admits that it's only now that the band is united
in their drive to take The Haunted toward the future.
"There's
a good feeling within the band right now. It's good. The At The Gates reunion
road tour was really good for the band. Initially, it sucked ass, especially financially
because the Björler twins were going out on tour, and we weren't! (Laugh)
It initially started out as eight shows, and they ended up doing close to fifty.
So for close to six months, the other three of us have been fucking poor! (Laughs)
But it's been so good to have the twins back. They needed to do that tour, because
I think it gave them the chance to get At The Gates out of their system. It was
really good to see them when they got back. It's like they got to finish it, and
in a good way, and they could finally move on with The Haunted."
With
the album just hitting the shelves, The Haunted is looking forward to taking to
the road once again. And although the band has toured the world countless times
before, Dolving says he can't wait to get out on the road and visit Australia
once more.
"So far, we've only done around ten days to
two weeks worth of touring here in Scandinavia. We've had the last week and a
half off. But on Monday, we head out on a plane and don't get home until Christmas.
One of our first stops on this tour is Australia, and that's really, really sweet.
We've been looking forward to it. We love touring Australia! Fans can expect to
hear plenty of songs from the new album, along with a mixture of everything we've
done before. That's what we generally try to do. I mean, this is our sixth record,
and we like to throw in a little bit from every album. It'll probably be a lions
share from the last two albums. But we'll play plenty of stuff from the previous
albums too. We didn't make it down to Australia while we were supporting 'The
Dead Eye', but we're coming back this time! We have a lot of new stuff to play
to our fans, and we can't wait to get down there and destroy!"
I
would personally like to thank Peter Dolving for his generous time, and Andrew
Haug at Century Media Records for making the interview possible.
For
more information on The Haunted, check out - http://www.the-haunted.com
© Justin Donnelly - justindonnelly@ozemail.com.au
