The Haunted - Nalen - 06 Oct 2008

Nalen is a jazz club in Stockholm that has been around for many decades. For a metal band to play here is not only unconventional, but also daring and exciting. This is one of those venues that is simply beautiful to walk around in, and that I wouldn't otherwise take the chance to do so if it weren't for a band like The Haunted playing.

And although the venue itself is beautiful, unfortunately the acoustics of the main room are just not setup for metal. Very much a shame, because, even though it was a Monday night, I think The Haunted put on a great performance and really got the crowd going towards the end.

The Haunted, if you haven't heard of them, are a metal band that were formed from the ashes of At the Gates, in Gothenburg in 1996. Since their formation, the original drummer has been replaced as has the singer - the original singer having returned in 2004 for their last 3 studio albums.

The crowd at Nalen was a bit more varied than your average metal show - and it has to do with The Haunted's switching of gears towards the middle of their career. The first three The Haunted albums are very much thrash metal a la Exodus, but upon the return of their original singer, the band took a decidely hardcore/metalcore/screamo turn, although the riffs still very much suggest metal. This switch created a clear divide in the crowd - half of the audience was into the older material, while the other half enjoyed the newer songs. It very much reminded me of the divide in a Metallica concert. Could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

If you're like me - a thrash metalhead at heart - get yourself a copy of one of their early, thrashier albums (The Haunted, The Haunted Made Me Do It or One Kill Wonder) and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. If you're into the more screamo stuff, check out their later albums, after the divide (RevolveR, The Dead Eye, and their new release, Versus).

\m/
-p2