The Haunted

Arising from the ashes of the important mid-'90s Swedish death metal band At the Gates and featuring former members of Witchery and Face Down, the Haunted went through countless lineup changes during the late '90s before finally releasing The Haunted Made Me Do It in 2000, confirming the excitement surrounding the band. Back in 1996, guitarist Anders Björler and bassist Jonas Björler left At the Gates, eventually ending up as early members of the Haunted, along with ex-Seance guitarist Jensen and ex-At the Gates drummer Adrian Erlandsson. Though it took them nearly a year's time to find an adequate vocalist, they eventually settled on Peter Dolving from Mary Beats Jane after Earache approached the group about contributing music to the Earplugged 2 compilation. Soon the band went into the studio with this lineup and recorded its self-titled debut, which won plenty of praise from the metal community.

Unfortunately, Erlandsson and Dolving ended up leaving the band (the former joined Cradle of Filth), but the remaining members quickly found a new drummer and vocalist, Per Moller Jensen and Marco Aro, respectively. With the band rebuilt, they entered the studio once again, recording their sophomore album, The Haunted Made Me Do It, which received a heavy -- and definitely warranted -- push by Earache, again catapulting the group into the eyes of the metal community. A leap forward from their debut, The Haunted Made Me Do It presented a unique approach to death metal that took the melodic tendencies of the late At the Gates material to a new level, resulting in an innovative blend of beauty and aggression that rarely surfaces in death metal and even less frequently appears this realized. Björler briefly left the band, but returned for 2004's One Kill Wonder, which marked the band's last recording for Earache.

In 2005 the band reunited with Dolving and signed with Century Media. Their first full-length for the imprint, 2005's rEVOLVEr, showcasing yet another progressive evolution in the band's sound, was greeted with nearly universal critical praise as better than any previous offering. In 2006 the band issued Dead Eye and later toured the U.S. with Dark Tranquillity, Into Eternity, and Scar Symmetry for the North American Metal for the Masses tour. After an extended break, the band returned to the studio for Versus, which was released in the fall of 2008. A greatest-hits package entitled Warning Shots was issued in 2009, followed in 2010 by the stellar live CD Road Kill from their 2009 tour with Slayer. The set included a DVD that showcased the sheer magnitude and force of the Haunted's live show. During the break, the band began to write new material, which resulted in the wildly progressive album Unseen, issued in March of 2011.

from Wikipedia:

The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996. The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen. Both of the Björler brothers and Erlandsson were members of the seminal melodic death metal band At the Gates, a pioneering force in the Swedish death metal scene.

All members, past and present, are from Gothenburg, Sweden; with the exception of Patrik Jensen, who is from Linköping; Per Möller Jensen, who is from Denmark; Adrian Erlandsson, who is from Malmö; and Marco Aro, who is from Finland.

History

The Haunted (1996–2000)

The band released their first album, while signed to Earache Records, the selftitled debut The Haunted, in 1998. Before this, they had also made their demo, called Demo '97, in 1997. The album resulted in The Haunted being praised as Newcomer of the Year by several magazines, and the album being called Album of the Year by Terrorizer Magazine. The Haunted made a respectable live reputation staging the Swedish metal scene, as well the international scene, touring the U.K. with Napalm Death.

After the release of this album, Peter Dolving and Adrian Erlandsson both left the band in 1999, the latter joining Cradle of Filth.

Made Me Do It (2000 – 2003)

Marco Aro was recruited as a new vocalist and Per Möller Jensen as drummer. Their second album, Made Me Do It, released in 2000, was more melodic and resembled the Gothenburg style (with bands such as At the Gates, etc.) more than old-school thrash metal that was used on The Haunted. It is originally called Made Me Do It, but it is meant for the band name to be included in the title. "The Haunted Made Me Do It" topped CMJ Loud Rock Radio Chart in four weeks, and won a Swedish Grammy for Best Hard Rock Album. The album was followed by European tours with Entombed and Nile, The Crown in U.K., and In Flames in Japan. The Haunted played on festivals such as 2000 Decibel, Hultsfred (both in Sweden), Graspop (Belgium), and Wacken Open Air (Germany). The band subsequently released their first live album - Live Rounds in Tokyo.

In August 2001, guitarist/songwriter Anders Björler left the band and he was temporarily replaced by Marcus Sunesson of The Crown for The Haunted's headlining tour; in less than a year Björler returned to the band. This meant that he could appear on the third studio album.

One Kill Wonder (2003 – 2004)

The next album was released in February 2003 and was titled One Kill Wonder. The Haunted broke their own record being listed at number one on CMJ Loud Rock Radio Chart in five weeks. Alternative Press hailed The Haunted as one of metal's 25 most important bands. The album resulted in The Haunted dominating album charts all over the world, and their first tours to Australia and South Africa, another tour to Japan, and a second Grammy. After another tour to Scandinavia, North America, United Kingdom and Europe in the fall of 2003, the sudden departure of Marco Aro came as a shock. Though, this opened a new chance of building up a reunion with former vocalist Peter Dolving.

The song D.O.A., from this album, became available for download in March 2008 for the video game Rock Band, on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace, and the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network. Another song from the same album, Shadow World, was announced as a future download.

Revolver (2004–2006)

Their first album with Peter Dolving back at the helm (and signed by a new deal with Century Media), was entitled Revolver. The new album was released in October 2004 and named as it was to convey the evolution of the band and the music it plays as a whole. Revolver was met with a fair amount of fan support and critical acclaim, and the band toured the world extensively in support of it, including a second stage spot at Ozzfest 2005. On February 2 of 2005, Marco Aro played his last show in Stockholm, Sweden but as a guest singer. In 2006, the band performed on the Extreme The Dojo vol.15 tour in Japan with Exodus and Nile, while Edge of Spirit opened for them.

The Dead Eye (2006–2007)

The Haunted's fifth studio album, The Dead Eye, was released on October 30, 2006 in Europe and so far has been a huge success, showing a more sinister side to Dolving's vocals and a more technical, haunting musical display. It was released in the USA on October 31, 2006. They later toured Europe and toured with Dark Tranquillity, Into Eternity, and Scar Symmetry for the North America Metal For The Masses tour. They recently toured Europe for the Cursed Earth tour with bands like Wolf, Municipal Waste, and Lyzanxia and took a break to later return to play in tours and some shows in Russia.

Versus (2008–2009)

Their sixth studio album, Versus, was released on September 17, 2008, in Sweden, September 19-24 in the rest of Europe, and October 14 in the USA. In 2009 the band released Warning Shots

Road Kill & Unseen (2010-Present)

In April 2010, the band released a live CD called Road Kill, and they supported heavy metal legends Slayer on their August 2010 tour. The band was also confirmed as being part of the soundtrack for Namco Bandai Games' 2010 remake of Splatterhouse.

In April, 2010, Dolving revealed that they had started writing new material, and the recording of a seventh album started in the same fall. On December 30, the band announced that the upcoming album was to be called Unseen and released in March, 2011.

The first sneak preview of the album was on January 22, when the band performed the song "No Ghost" at the P3 Guld Gala, broadcast live on TV and radio throughout Sweden.

Videography

DVDSCaught on Tape (2002)Road Kill (2010)Music videos"Chasm" (1998), Previously unreleased, Features BMX crash footage from Mat Hoffman"Bury Your Dead" (2000), from Caught on Tape"D.O.A." (2003), Directed by Pete Bridgewater"All Against All" (2004), Directed by Roger Johansson"No Compromise" (2005), Directed by Roger Johansson"The Flood" (2006) Directed by Roger Johansson"The Drowning" (2007), Directed by Anders Björler"Moronic Colossus" Live at Wacken (2008), Edited by Anders Björler"Trenches" (2008), Directed by Daniel Larsson (aired 2009)"No Ghost" Live at Wacken (2011), Edited by Anders Björler

Members

CurrentAnders Björler - lead guitars (1996–2001, 2002–present)Jonas Björler - bass (1996–present)Peter Dolving - lead vocals (1996–1998, 2003–present)Patrik Jensen - rhythm guitars (1996–present)Per Möller Jensen - drums (1999–present)FormerAdrian Erlandsson - drums (1996–1999)John Zwetsloot - guitar (1996)Marco Aro - lead vocals (1999–2003, and February 2, 2005)Mike Wead - session guitar (2001)Marcus Sunesson - session guitars (2001–2002)