Saturday 18 November 2017

Album Review: THE HAUNTED - Strength In Numbers

The Haunted - Strength In Numbers


01. Fill The Darkness With Black
02. Brute Force
03. Spark
04. Preachers Of Death
05. Strength In Numbers
06. Tighten The Noose
07. This Is The End
08. The Fall
09. Means To An End
10. Monuments

This new album from these legendary Swedish Thrash Metallers, features the return of ex-Face Down front-man Marco Aro on lead vocals. That's cool with me, as Marco was their singer when I first got into the band, back when they released their awesome second album, The Haunted Made Me Do It. I saw them live in Nottingham when they toured that record too, so his return to the band was a welcome one for me.

Strength In Numbers is The Haunted at their best. They are still masters of brutal, technical Thrash Metal, as uncompromising as it is meticulous in its savage delivery. They utilise some slow, sinister guitar work to provide contrast to the bludgeoning onslaught of Metal riffs, which in places, reminds me of Slayer's album Seasons In The Abyss.

There's some fine craftsmanship on display here, from the bone crunching Brute Force, to the rhythmic slamming and fury of Spark. Another track that really stood out for me was the 'Pantera-meets-Grunge' This Is The End.

The Haunted don't really do surprises. If you're a fan of their previous records, particularly ones from the Marco era, Strength In Numbers will meet your expectations, and provides just enough character of its own to separate itself from previous releases without straying too far from their signature sound.

SHARE:

No comments

Post a Comment

Blog Layout Designed by pipdig