THE HAUNTED Frontman Checks In From The Road

Vocalist Peter Dolving of Swedish metallers THE HAUNTED has issued the following update from the road:

"Seriously, it just gets better. I don't know how that's even possible but, really; I mean, we should be growing into jaded cynical bastards by now, instead we are having... FUN!?

"We just played in ....Prague.... and walked up on stage with no expectations at all and guess what; it kicked ass. I know. By now we must be boring people with how much we enjoy this...

"The last couple of months, since we started touring for 'Versus', there seems to be something new going on. People know our songs. They sing along, dance, head bang and rock out like there's more to this spectacle than just watching us be weird. There is a new sense of togetherness. It feels like when we first started out: a bunch of kids with a love for metal, hardcore and punk rock. People are having fun, taking in the passion, feeding off the energy in it all and giving it back. For us as a band it feels like a privilege.

"Along the way, we've toured months at a time feeling like the most pointless sons of bitches on the planet. Opening for other bands and playing for audiences that seemed to want nothing more than see us disappear. But somehow, there must have been people at those shows who liked our ugly Swedish faces, our loud stubborn sullen rage and sarcastic humour, because now they seem to come to the shows all at once. And there are a lot of them too! To see people all over ....Germany.... show up and get with it....

"There's still life in the dream of some place, some way, we can all get together and celebrate the fact that we are not alone, that our love for music and a lifestyle built on something else than constant achievement for someone else's benefit is worth fighting for. We don't have to fit in! We don't have to go along with rules made by — and for someone else. We are free to be exactly who we are and who we continue becoming.

"So to everyone who has showed up in Stuttgart, Bochum, Hamburg, Berlin and Leipzig: thank you!"

THE HAUNTED filmed a video for the song "Trenches" in December 2008 in Gothenburg, Sweden with director Daniel Larsson of Addictive Alliance. The clip is expected to premiere later this month.

An eight-minute behind-the-scenes feature on the making of the video can be viewed below.

"Trenches" comes off the group's latest album, "Versus", which sold around 1,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This represents roughly half of the opening tally of its predecessor, "The Dead Eye", which premiered with 3,200 units back in November 2006.

"Versus" entered the Swedish chart at position No. 14 and the Finnish chart at No. 12.

An e-card for "Versus" can be found at this location.

The CD was recorded in part at PUK studio in Denmark with producer Tue Madsen (HEAVEN SHALL BURN, DARK TRANQUILLITY, MOONSPELL, etc),who previously worked with the group on its two most recent LPs, "rEVOLVEr" (2004) and "The Dead Eye" (2006).

THE HAUNTED will return to North American shores this spring to headline a stellar package tour. Throughout the month of April, the band will be ravaging cities alongside NACHTMYSTIUM, KYLESA and INTRONAUT — a show that any fan of extreme metal will want to check out.