The Haunted: Exit Wounds review

Tenured Swedish outfit, The Haunted, recently released their record, Exit Wounds, If you\’re already a fan of this vivacious band, then this album will please you; it is an angrily predictable prolongation of their discography. I can\’t quite place what troubles me about this record. While the vocals are versatile, I likened them too much to the vexed baritone of Corey Taylor (especially in “Trend Killer,” which could easily be confused with Slipknot\’s “The Heretic Anthem”). The drums, which are stiff as monkey cymbals, district much from the bass: the hidden star of this band. Those acrobatic notes hold this album together. There are some surprises from the guitars; they occasionally carry a Southern twang, as in “Eye of the Storm.” But they are too often generic. There are great harmonics on occasion. “Kill the Light” is a killer guitar track. That particular denouement rescues the second-half of Exit Wounds, which tries to be bigger than it is. That\’s it. That\’s what bugs me about this album: it doesn\’t offer anything I can\’t get somewhere else. They may be best as an introduction to more extreme music, but I urge you to keep looking. 4/10 -Andrew Harris