The HauntedStrength In Numbers

With 20 years of experience and a nine album catalogue under their belt, Swedish thrash metallers The Haunted haven’t lost their stride with their latest effort in the explosively hard hitting release Strength In Numbers.

Strength In Numbers is the follow up to 2014’s Exit Wounds. Exit Wounds saw the return of vocalist Marco Aro and drummer Adrian Erlandsson after a ten and 14 year absence respectively.

The two opening tracks Fill the Darkness with Black and Brute Force set the tone for what’s to come with a healthy combination of powerfully melodic instrumentals and straight and narrow metal bellows. Strength In Numbers is familiar metal all the way through laced with anguished anthems, highlighted in lead single Spark, using harmonious guitar breaks as a foil for Aro’s familiar raw vocals.

The album is a classic ten-track headbanger’s journey from start to finish.

Strength In Numbers truly peaks in its second chapter with a breath of fresh air in the title track, which progressively builds into a crossfire of chunky bass and thrash. This Is The End changes the tempo, slugging through a pulsing break before picking right up again into rapid paced axe-battling in The Fall.

The album culminates with one of the strongest tracks, Monuments, combining a mix of haunting melodic riffs and earth shattering chugs; the best guitarwork on the album.

The album is a classic ten-track headbanger’s journey from start to finish. While still managing to honour their origins, The Haunted have added something contemporary and fresh to their era spanning discography, going beyond the standard of the times.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Spark, Strength In Numbers, Monuments
STICK THIS NEXT TO: At The Gates, Soilwork, Lamb Of God