THE HAUNTED Frontman: 'We've Never Considered Ourselves To Be Just A Thrash Band'

Justin Donnelly of Australia's The Metal Forge recently conducted an interview with THE HAUNTED frontman Peter Dolving. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On THE HAUNTED's new album, "The Dead Eye":

"I think to fully understand 'The Dead Eye', you have to give the album some time to really sink in. A lot of people think this is our fifth album, but that's not really true. Before THE HAUNTED, the Björler brothers recorded albums with AT THE GATES, myself with MARY BEATS JANE and [Per] Jensen with INVOCATOR. So for us to finally want to change direction was a very natural decision for us. We've been talking about these ideas and directional changes for some time. I think the more you listen to 'The Dead Eye', the more you realise how linear it is with everything else we've done in the past. I think there's an initial shock because we have made an album that's very easy to listen to, but there's more to this album than a simple change of vocals. We know the way it sounds, and the initial impact of how we mixed it will shock some people."

On the decision to create something more than just another thrash album:

"It was absolutely a group decision. It was pretty early on that we knew that we weren't going to do an album that was so heavily compressed and mastered that you could barely listen to it for more than one or two songs. We wanted to make something that had room for more dynamics. We wanted a certain reality for the ears. We wanted to explore other musical avenues. Of course, that's something that we've always tried to do. We're always checking the scope of what we are capable of. But this time, I think this is the first time that we've actually felt really comfortable about making these changes and found that confidence in our own skills. I mean we're not going to tread deep water unless we're able to deliver this live. We're pretty conservative when it comes to that. We think people pay a lot of money to come out and see our shows, and it's that relationship with the band and our fans that is something very important to us. So I think this was the first time that we were ready to do something like this."

On the varied reactions to "The Dead Eye":

"Well, I think some people of course are going to really dislike 'The Dead Eye' because they're not going to give the album the time it deserves. I mean they might not listen to music for the same reasons that we listen to music. But I think for a music fan, which would be the basic fan of THE HAUNTED, I think it's going to go down well. The initial response has been strong, both on the positive and negative. But the good thing, and it's really great to see this, is that for every negative call out that somebody posts on a web forum, there's someone there to follow up with a positive piece from a fan giving their perspective on the album. So I think at the moment, we feel really good about the way it's being embraced by the fans, and how it will be viewed over time."

On whether they hope to break free of the thrash tag:

"I can't say that I've really considered that point of view, because we've never considered ourselves to be just a thrash band! (Laughs) To us, we've always created music that we've liked. On the first couple of albums, THE HAUNTED definitely had their heavy thrash influences out on show. Since then, I think it was pretty obvious that the band have pushed to see what they're were capable of beyond that, and see how far they could experiment in different kind of songs. I understand from a journalist's point of view where you would see us as a thrash band, but from our point of view, it's not a genre tag we would put ourselves into. People tend put a lot more things in there that aren't really there. Sometimes a turd is just a turd! (Laughs) We are who we are. We're just five dudes who rock out and love what we're doing. We just try to make music that we love, and it has always kind of taken us wherever it has."

Read the entire interview at www.themetalforge.com.