Yay! Im looking forward to hearing this, although Im not expecting great things after hearing "Disappear"... Just about to listen to it now! I will post a short song-by-song run-down of my thoughts once Im done. xD

Its good, different in sound ,, yet , like all the haunted releases before, nothing so much special, but catchy

Okay, just finished listening, here's my run down of the album.

Never Better - The start of this song gets the album off to a thrashing start, but quickly, the song slows down, and becomes more brooding. Its decent enough, but it's not going to be competing with the likes of "God Puppet", "Hate Song" or "No Compromise" as a classic Haunted album opener! Wish the song stayed how it started...

No Ghost - This one has an almost stoner vibe, like Down or the Pepper Keenan fronted COC. Id heard a live version of this before, and already liked it then. A real gem of a song! xD

Catch 22 - I really don't know what to make of this song... it's very obtuse with off-kilter riffs, and the bass is very prominent. Can't describe this song really, it's a strange one!

Disappear - I didn't like this song when I heard it on youtube. Hearing it again in better quality, I like it a lot better. Very brooding and melodic. And the ending riff is crushing!

Motionless - Although not thrash, the main riff and verse does sound like some of the stuff that was on The Dead Eye. It then becomes pretty catchy, if not exactly pop catchy. lol The mid-section sees the song becoming much heavier, and faster. Their thrash roots show themselves in this part. Nice song indeed!

Unseen - A pretty straight-forward song. Mid-paced riffing, and a brooding chorus. Good song.

The Skull - This one starts with an extremely melodic intro with clean guitars, which is very cool. After a very atmospheric and tense build up with a marching drum beat follows, the song really crashes in with a barracking riff which could easily have been on "RevolveR" or a heavier track from "The Dead Eye". This section is much more the typical Haunted sound. It then ends on a very melodic note. A schizophrenic song to say the least, but certainly one of my faves on this first listen!

Ocean Park/The City - Although listed as a song on it's own, "Ocean Park" is really just a short intro for "The City". lol "The City" is typical of the more melodic side of the typical Haunted sound. The main and chorus riff is massive, and actually got my spine tingling. The bass of Jonas Bjoler is absolutely huge on this one! Unfortunately, the song is very short, and just as I was getting into it, it ended!

Them - Some heavy palm muting riffing going on here.. A weird song this! It wiill take a listen or two more to fully get this song I think.

All Ends Well - The song that Peter Dolving revealed was a "song about sex". lol This is cringeworthy stuff to the max, and Im glad it's the only such song on the album.

Done - This one has a nice heavy slow riff, although a quirky mid-section part sounds very out of place. Hmm.. lol

My overall impressions after the first listen, is it's not as bad as I was expecting, though it is patchy, and definitely not a classic Haunted album. Any fan who will only accept The Haunted being thrash will loath this album, and you really need to have an appreciation for the more melodic side of metal as well as thrash to appreciate some of what's on it. It's schizophrenic definitely, and the songwriting isn't always stellar, but it's a decent album I think.

Stand out tracks: "No Ghost", "Motionless", "The Skull", "Ocean Park/The City".

Written by Angelic Storm on 16.03.2011 at 13:07

Okay, just finished listening, here's my run down of the album.

Never Better - The start of this song gets the album off to a thrashing start, but quickly, the song slows down, and becomes more brooding. Its decent enough, but it's not going to be competing with the likes of "God Puppet", "Hate Song" or "No Compromise" as a classic Haunted album opener! Wish the song stayed how it started...

No Ghost - This one has an almost stoner vibe, like Down or the Pepper Keenan fronted COC. Id heard a live version of this before, and already liked it then. A real gem of a song! xD

Catch 22 - I really don't know what to make of this song... it's very obtuse with off-kilter riffs, and the bass is very prominent. Can't describe this song really, it's a strange one!

Disappear - I didn't like this song when I heard it on youtube. Hearing it again in better quality, I like it a lot better. Very brooding and melodic. And the ending riff is crushing!

Motionless - Although not thrash, the main riff and verse does sound like some of the stuff that was on The Dead Eye. It then becomes pretty catchy, if not exactly pop catchy. lol The mid-section sees the song becoming much heavier, and faster. Their thrash roots show themselves in this part. Nice song indeed!

Unseen - A pretty straight-forward song. Mid-paced riffing, and a brooding chorus. Good song.

The Skull - This one starts with an extremely melodic intro with clean guitars, which is very cool. After a very atmospheric and tense build up with a marching drum beat follows, the song really crashes in with a barracking riff which could easily have been on "RevolveR" or a heavier track from "The Dead Eye". This section is much more the typical Haunted sound. It then ends on a very melodic note. A schizophrenic song to say the least, but certainly one of my faves on this first listen!

Ocean Park/The City - Although listed as a song on it's own, "Ocean Park" is really just a short intro for "The City". lol "The City" is typical of the more melodic side of the typical Haunted sound. The main and chorus riff is massive, and actually got my spine tingling. The bass of Jonas Bjoler is absolutely huge on this one! Unfortunately, the song is very short, and just as I was getting into it, it ended!

Them - Some heavy palm muting riffing going on here.. A weird song this! It wiill take a listen or two more to fully get this song I think.

All Ends Well - The song that Peter Dolving revealed was a "song about sex". lol This is cringeworthy stuff to the max, and Im glad it's the only such song on the album.

Done - This one has a nice heavy slow riff, although a quirky mid-section part sounds very out of place. Hmm.. lol

My overall impressions after the first listen, is it's not as bad as I was expecting, though it is patchy, and definitely not a classic Haunted album. Any fan who will only accept The Haunted being thrash will loath this album, and you really need to have an appreciation for the more melodic side of metal as well as thrash to appreciate some of what's on it. It's schizophrenic definitely, and the songwriting isn't always stellar, but it's a decent album I think.

Stand out tracks: "No Ghost", "Motionless", "The Skull", "Ocean Park/The City".

Thank you very much Angelic for that informative review. At least I know what to look forward to now!

ööeeahhh !

Puke

Written by Joey Filth on 16.03.2011 at 14:27
Thank you very much Angelic for that informative review. At least I know what to look forward to now!

You are very welcome. Im glad you enjoyed reading my initial thoughts on the album, hope it helped!

After hearing this, and previously hearing (and not liking) Versus, i'm not surprised i dont like this album either. I mean, their suppose to be a thrash band! now they're starting to remind me of what what happen if u combined Theory of a Deadman and High on Fire... I'm just not digging their new sound.

I don't want to be unfair to this band. It seems they put alot of work into this. I am, however, disappointed!