THE HAUNTED Frontman Says BLACKEST OF THE BLACK Tour Is Going 'Better Than Expected'

THE HAUNTED frontman Peter Dolving has posted the following message on his MySpace page:

"I woke up this morning with the distinct image in my mind of myself and everyone else on the tour bus piously smiling at a stream of water in a little park. In my dream we had all smoked hallucinogen fish gills. Indeed... But it wasn't the old hi-res color-enhanced reality one might expect that we were digging. No — instead the trip we were on in my dream was more one of hyper reality. Speaking like brothers and drinking coffee as if the desert/pimped up trailer home kitchenette (dreamland...things blend) was indeed our home. So much can be said about it all, but I gather this was a dream about friendship and intimacy. I have no clue where the fish gills sprung from, but nevertheless it was a nice dream. And as I keep travelling my conviction gets stronger, this is our home. Road, desert, mountains and forest it's all one.

"The shows are going well, better than expected even. ASESINO are all blazing Mexican wrestling masks and blasting out old-school American death metal, BELPHEGOR hit the stage in knee-high Docs all combat geared doing the VADER-style death thing. We share bus with 'em and they're alright. Their skinny little bass player has so far on three days gotten laid four times and I'm thinking 'Quantity before dishonor — then death — then some more quantity.'

"I kinda appreciate the whole scope of it. Though I'm not personally much for the sexing up of big-butted round girls, I take it as a sign of health. Real people, it seems, don't give a shit if you look like fucking Katie Holmes or not... again — I'm glad everyone don't share my [aesthetics].

"I find myself awed onstage by how much the new songs rock and how well it melds with the old stuff. Making this truly what it should be. Straight-up great. Blazing rage and thunder and an audience that sings with us, feeling it, sharing it, being right there right then. Ugly and beautiful. We are all haunted.

"In Portland one of friends pulled a stripper onto the bus to celebrate Per's [Jensen, drums] birthday. There was an akward moment, until we got it explained to the girl that she was welcome and all but we weren't really into the stripping/lapdance thing. Turns out she was really funny and she gave our friend a hard time. She flashed me her ass a couple of times and thought it was very entertaining that I got embarassed. But it's one of those things — if I was looking for it, I'd appreciate it. But I'm not. Instead it feels a little weird. I don't know if it's being Swedish, but I'm just not into the tease. If I want sex I WANT it, I can't see the point in what some people refer to as titilating or exciting. To me it's just frustrating. Frustration is the enemy. I'd rather just sit and talk to kool people, chillin' in the lounge of the bus.

"The painful part about that whole deal is the fact that saying no thank you in a situation like this is undoubtably a form of rejection and I didn't want that girl feeling all rejected. Hell, she was pretty and all — but all that happens if I say 'sure rub yer ass on me!' is me getting a slight hard-on, one that calls a cab, writes a poem on a beer coaster and packs it up when it figures out it ain't getting any. Then leaves me feeling like a bastard and a cheat.

"I can't work that stuff out yet. Maybe in a couple of years or something. I mean, as much as I consider myself an egalitarian and a feminist I'm still in parts an old-school sexist pig, and I am NOT proud of that. The fact remains; submission turns me on. In spite of all my thoughts wishes for a just world, my libido gets off on something else. The irony.

"Maybe I should just accept it. That sex is sex, not the world? But to me it's something private, something intimate, something about consent and mutual trust, no matter how fucking weird it may seem. Or maybe it's time I stop judging myself for being human? Should I even care? Should I be all Hugh Hefner and sit in the front lounge of the bus in my pyjamas with a stiffy and a geeky grin? Should I convert the back lounge to an S&M dungeon?

"Questions, questions. And too much time to occupy my feeble little mind with."