40 minutes of visceral Thrash Metal with a Swedish twist. Riffs for days, snarling vocals that grab your throat and a powerhouse sound that is instantly recognisable. Yes, it is the new album by The Haunted, and I am pleased to report that Songs Of Last Resort is one beast of a record.
The Haunted – Songs Of Last Resort
Release Date: 30 May 2025
Words: Paul Hutchings
Rightly revered in many Metal circles, The Haunted’s distinctive, driving approach blends with pleasing melodies to give an album that rivals anything the band have ever done.
A cohesive line-up of over 12 years provides The Haunted with that platform from which to launch their latest aural assault, and if you like your Thrash Metal with one aggressive formula, then this is an album to get into.
It has been 27 years since the band’s self-titled album crashed into an unsuspecting world and eight years since the band’s most recent record, Strength In Numbers. So it is high time that the tenth album from the band arrived.
And whilst the Thrash is strong, there is plenty of variation within the album to get both stalwart fans and interested newbies salivating.
Songs Of Last Resort is vicious and uncompromising. Opener Warhead is perfectly placed. Explosive, hugely catchy, and as violent as you can get, the ripping Thrash still doffs the cap to forefathers and the old school whilst carving out its own distinct path.
Vocalist Marco Aro has spent time with Björn Strid (Soilwork/The Night Flight Orchestra) as a vocal coach and engineer, and that has clearly paid dividends for Aro’s delivery throughout it.
Alongside Aro, founder members Patrik Jensen, Adrian Erlandsson and Jonas Björler and guitarist Ola Englund put in stellar performances. There are elements of the Gothenburg sound on tracks like To Bleed Out, with its layered synths that add to the overall sound. The punishing Thrash Metal on In Fire Reborn with Aro’s titanic growl, gives the song heft, and there is a modern feel on Hell Is Wasted On The Dead.
The songs grab you hard, make you want to race around a circle pit and slam your body into other like-minded individuals. Such is the way it grips you.
Repeated plays merely enhance the relentless battery that rages. The solos burst through, the riffs are merciless, and the bass rumbles with foreboding. 
With 11 songs that race through in under 40 minutes, there is little time to catch one’s breath. The slower tempo of Collateral Carnage offers little respite, for the barrage is intense, and even when the pace slows, the heaviness continues.
It is perfectly crafted. With Jens Bogren in the mixing and mastering chairs, you know it is going to be top quality. And yet, it is not too over the top or polished. There is still dirt under the nails of this band.
I am sure purists would argue all day about where this album sits in the band’s discography, but for me, it ranks highly. For all their legacy, this is where The Haunted currently are.
Jensen would agree. “All those albums that we put out in the past, I stand by them,” he says. “That’s just where the band was at those stages. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is where Black Sabbath were at that point in time, you know?
“So, you can be nerdy and see it as a kind of time document. On this album, I’ll be totally honest, we sound 20 years younger! It just came from nowhere. Everything gelled. We just wrote from the gut and from the heart. When people hear it, I hope they’re gonna say, ‘Fuck yeah, this is a Haunted album!'”
The Haunted will be hitting the road soon, with a highly anticipated appearance at the UK’s most exciting indoor Metal Festival, Damnation, in November.
They may be reaching 30 years together, but the sound here suggests they have only just warmed up.
The Haunted will release Songs Of Last resort on 30 May 2025 via Century Music. For Pre-orders and more details, visit TheHaunted.shop.
