I loved The Haunted Made Me Do It and One Kill Wonder. Of course those two albums featured Marco Aro on vocals, instead of the current and original singer Peter Dolving. Since Peter's return, The Haunted have transformed themselves into an ever more experimental Metal band. Once dubbed the Swedish Slayer, they are now almost indefinable, and that's a good thing. It's too much pressure and to small a box to try and fit into, trying to be the Swedish Slayer. I wouldn't want to be dubbed the American Martin Poppoff. He's to good a reviewer, a legend in some respects. It would suck trying to live in that shadow.

So The Haunted all but blew up that Slayer shadow long ago and I'm sure it's worth all the "you aren't Metal anymore" pandering they've undoubtedly dealt with over the past few years. Versus sort of brings together all that they've attempted over the past couple of discs since Peter's return. Still heavy, but includes elements of Goth, Metalcore, and Hardcore, Versus teems with all that is good about modern Thrash Metal music. Let's face it; the genre has become riddled with stylistic imitation, where extreme amplification and ambiguous intensity have become the norm. Thus we read all the negative reviews for The Dead Eye, because aren't they supposed to be the Swedish Slayer?

Versus sounds like the soundtrack to the current global situation, dreary, scary, and empty. There's an atmosphere that The Haunted capture unlike any of their peers. Simple but pinpoint riffs, varied but focused vocals, and relentless groovy rhythm propel the album to the Mecca of Heavy Metal social consciousness, without cliché or compromise. Bravo to The Haunted for sticking to their guns and creating a near masterpiece, and just like Slayer's Reign in Blood it's a quick blistering epic, a mere forty minutes long. From the fat riffs of "Ceremony" and "River's Run", to the furious "Moronic Colossus", Versus should prove to be a classic, if not immediately, then in years to come.