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Dragon Fire: New Haunted Album Inbound
An absolute classic act of later thrash, The Haunted are about to drop their new album, Songs Of Last Resort.
At Slow Dragon Music, we were gripped from day one by this At The Gates ‘spin-off.’ The first two albums still get a lot of weekly attention, but we drifted away a little after that. With this new material, though the ears have been recaptured, and it’s hard to put a finger on the root of the new found appeal. It could be an internal rejuvenation, with original drummer, Adrian Erlandsson back on the throne..? Maybe something else. Whatever it is, it’s very welcome! Check it out in the video for In Fire Reborn below.
“All those albums that we put out in the past, I stand by them,” states guitarist and co-founder, Jensen. “That’s just where the band was at those stages. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is where Black Sabbath were at that point time, you know? So you can be nerdy and see it as a kind of time document. On this album, I’ll be totally honest, we sound 20 years younger! It just came from nowhere. Everything gelled. We just wrote from the gut and from the heart. When people hear it, I hope they’re gonna say ‘Fuck yeah, this is a Haunted album!’”
Dragon Fire: New Haunted Album Inbound
An avalanche of killer riffs. Audacious, utterly ripping drums. Ferocious vocals that will pin you to the wall.
If The Haunted ever had a formula, it was a simple but lethally effective one. 27 years on from their seminal, self-titled debut album, the Swedish legends are poised to release their most intense and vital music to date. On their tenth studio album, Songs Of Last Resort, The Haunted are reclaiming the modern thrash throne and showing everybody else how this shit is done.
The Haunted burst into life in 1996. Formed by guitarist Jensen and drummer Adrian Erlandsson, both revered figures from the metal world, they swiftly evolved into an unstoppable wrecking machine. From the release of The Haunted in 1998, they set new standards for aggressive modern metal, and have since become one of the best loved and most respected bands in heavy music. Early albums like The Haunted Made Me Do It (2000) and One Kill Wonder (2003) established them as heavyweights in a thriving, revitalised metal scene, while the more diverse and experimental likes of ominous conceptual splurge The Dead Eye (2006) and the rapacious, rock-powered Versus (2008) revealed broader, deeper and noticeably non-conformist principles in action. Routinely hailed as a monstrous, life-affirming live band, The Haunted have weathered nearly three decades of active service, arriving in 2025 in the rudest of health and on blistering form.
“All those albums that we put out in the past, I stand by them,” states Jensen.
“That’s just where the band was at those stages. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is where Black Sabbath were at that point time, you know? So you can be nerdy and see it as a kind of time document. On this album, I’ll be totally honest, we sound 20 years younger! It just came from nowhere. Everything gelled. We just wrote from the gut and from the heart. When people hear it, I hope they’re gonna say ‘Fuck yeah, this is a Haunted album!’”
Nearly eight years have passed since The Haunted last released a new album, 2017’s widely acclaimed Strength In Numbers. With a stable and harmonious line-up – Jensen, Erlandsson, vocalist Marco Aro, bassist Jonas Björler and guitarist Ola Englund – that has been in place since 2013, they hit several new peaks of efficacy on Songs Of Last Resort: the tenth Haunted album, and plainly one of the most explosive in the band’s career. After several years of global turbulence and unavoidable delay, returning to the The Haunted for another assault on the world’s ears was an absolute necessity for everyone involved.
“We all thought that it was time to do something,”
Jensen explains. “We wanted to keep the band alive. I don’t think anyone has ever played better [than they do on this album], and Marco sounds better than ever, stronger than on any album he’s done. I guess the planets were aligned. We didn’t have a plan. We didn’t say it was going to be a fast album or a melodic album, we just wrote, and then we had a sit down and we had a multitude of songs to choose from.”
Dragon Fire: New Haunted Album Inbound
‘Songs of Last Resort’ Tracklist:
01. Warhead (03:39)
02. In Fire Reborn (03:18)
03. Death to the Crown (02:56)
04. To Bleed Out (04:29)
05. Unbound (03:34)
06. Hell is Wasted on the Dead (02:53)
07. Through the Fire (03:01)
08. Collateral Carnage (04:03)
09. Blood Clots (01:30)
10. Salvation Recalled (03:26)
11. Labyrinth of Lies (03:30)
12. Letters of Last Resort (04:06)
Album running time: (00:40:33)
The first thing people will notice about Songs Of Last Resort is how utterly vicious and uncompromising it is.
The adventurous detours and cinematic urges explored on previous records are still in evidence this time around, but the essence of The Haunted’s tenth album is made from pure, visceral metal. Brutal, precise and almost overburdened with lacerating hooks, new songs like In Fire Reborn and Hell Is Wasted On The Dead are direct descendants of classic songs from the first three Haunted albums, but with an even more live and organic feel.
Songs Of Last Resort was recorded at the legendary Studio Bohus in Gothenburg, and subsequently mixed and mastered by esteemed studio guru Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios (Kreator, Arch Enemy, Sepultura). It is likely the best-sounding record in The Haunted’s illustrious career by some distance, with every member excelling themselves. In particular, vocalist Marco Aro puts in a staggering, career-best performance throughout the album, delivering his trademark bellow with newfound dexterity and imagination, with a little help from another Swedish metal icon.
“Studio Bohus is actually where Status Quo recorded Rockin’ All Over The World!” says Jensen. “The studio has been there since the ‘70s. They still have the same interior! We recorded everything apart from the solos and vocals, and we did it in 10 days. Then Ola did his solos, and Marco did his vocals in Stockholm. He had Björn Strid (Soilwork/The Night Flight Orchestra) as a vocal coach and engineer – he actually recorded Marco. Björn is such a sweet guy too. Marco’s a big, tough guy, but Björn could get the best out of him. It worked out really, really well. We’re very happy that he wanted to do it.”
As the world spirals towards oblivion, The Haunted are proudly raging against the dying of the light.
Songs Of Last Resort was inspired by the “letters of last resort”: handwritten letters from the Prime Minister of the UK, sent to the commanders of the four British ballistic missile submarines, and containing instructions for what to do in the event that the British government has been destroyed by a nuclear attack. As Jensen explains, The Haunted’s new album explores that terrifying reality.
“One British newspaper had some information about the letters, and the part that struck a chord with me was the message: ‘Put yourself under the command of the United States, if it is still there!’“ he states. “That’s the most brutal thing I ever heard, and it could be true, you know? Maybe the US could have been destroyed. So there’s a very strong anti-war theme, at least in my songs. The first song is Warhead – which obviously means a warhead on a weapon, but it’s also about how someone has a ‘war head’ on them. Like a politician or an industrial person who benefits from war. The very last song is called Letters Of Last Resort – it’s a more cinematic song, with different sounds and scenes within it, and a long outro. I see this as an anti-war album.”
Dragon Fire: New Haunted Album Inbound
The Haunted are back and blazing away like it’s 1998 again.
Re-entering the fray with Songs Of Last Resort – their finest album in more than 20 years – and relishing the prospect of taking these thrilling new songs out on the road, these certified diehards are committed to the cause and ready to destroy.
“The best songs happen when everybody collaborates, and this album has got that real band feel to it,” Jensen concludes. “If you’re a fan of The Haunted, it’s going to make you very happy, I think. We can’t wait to get it out there. We have a busy year ahead, with a lot more festivals lined up this year than we have before. We’ve had some great tour offers, so hopefully we’ll be out on the road for a long time!”
Lineup:
Ola Englund – rhythm & lead guitar
Jonas Björler – bass, backing vocals
Marco Aro – lead vocals
Adrian Erlandsson – drums
Jensen – rhythm guitar
Cover Artwork: Andreas “Diaz” Pettersson
Music recorded by Oscar Nilsson at Studio Bohus
Main vocals recorded by Björn Strid at The Cellar Studio
Mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios
‘Songs of Last Resort’ will be available as Ltd. CD Mediabook & Poster (Incl. the bonus track “Feeding the Furnace” (02:32)), as Standard CD Jewelcase, as Digital Album and as 180g. LP & Poster in the following variants:
– Black LP & Poster (Unlimited)
– Ltd. transp. red LP & Poster (500x copies, available from www.cmdistro.de & various other retailers)
– Ltd. transp. petrol green LP & Poster (300x copies, available from various retailers in Europe)
Pre-orders: https://the-haunted.lnk.to/SongsOfLastResort-Album
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Dragon Fire: New Haunted Album Inbound
