Following that up, "The Reflection" tends to tilt toward a progressive Tool sound, though I believe it's not unintentional, it's a good song, just not original. From this point on, the album takes a turn for the worse, sounding less thrash and more metalcore, a year too late trendiness, and unfortunately ordinary. But like I mentioned earlier, they do try new things, such as the synth fuzz of "The Fallout," and the blues beats employed on the "The Medusa." Changing the tempos and times is admirable, but not many work for me.
One example, "The Shifter," sounds vocally forced. It becomes a scream fest over guitar work that doesn't keep up, effectively erasing any groove that might have driven the song through to the end. I get the impression there wasn't one single focus for the band here, like they threw a bunch of ideas on the wall to see what stuck.
RATING: 5/10 - Overall, with all the experimental wrangling, I believe, even though those employed are new to The Haunted, they are not new to the world of metal, nor is it, what they created. The best music here is the trash we all know they can play, which may be the exact opposite of what they were striving for on this album. Again, changing things up is what music is all about. Redefining yourself is certainly a metal trait, but I say this one fell flat. Unless they plan on changing the world of stoner metal, which was one experiment that did work, I say it is back to the drawing board for The Haunted.
Article comments
1 - UTSC
To dismiss anything on this album as metalcore is foolish and ignorant. Take another listen, and realize that these men, being some of the pioneers of the sound metalcore has bastardized and taken as it's own, have further pushed their music into a well of despair which no band will ever, or should ever attempt to achieve. The songs on this album are so expressive that it is absolutely absurd that they be mentioned in a website even containing the word metalcore.