[.ca] Made Me Do It

From Amazon.com:
From the great grooves of the Gothenburg, Sweden, death-metal scene that spawned Entombed, Dismember, and the Haunted's immediate ancestor, At the Gates, comes another successful wedding of ominous Slayer-inspired metal with hard-hitting traditional rock. The accessibility of the onslaught brings Motörhead to mind, though the Haunted's sound is cleaner. In the Swedish style, even when the vocals are total gross-outs and the drums smack mercilessly, the guitars construct catchy melodic patterns like something from Judas Priest. With so much going on stylistically, the Haunted don't take metal to the next level; rather, they mark a new beginning in the vital, prolific Swedish scene. --Ian Christe

bred for abuse, now watch me dominate your pathetic life:
These guys just kick ass. Major ass. A serious thrash record. Marco Aro is an awesome vocalist. Although Peter Dolving from the first record and the one coming out this year has grown on me. Real metal all the way through. We should have bands put music like this out everyday. The couple of instrumental tracks are nice too. Dark Intentions will give you just that. Also check out Leech, Hollow Ground and Victim Iced.

a great thrash album:
thrash is my favorite form of metal and the haunted are one of my favorite thrash bands. the haunted combine hate,anger,tons of riffs and sometimes even melody to grand results. on the haunted made me do it they continuie what they started on their first album just with a differente production and vocalist. one for the better and one for the worst in my opinion. like others have said the production pushes the vocals to far to the front. their new vocalist marco aro is better suited for the haunted and their music then peter dolving was in my opinion even though their debut was a very impressive one. the haunted are about going at full speed most of the times and tons of riffs. this is a straight ahead thrash record except for a few exceptions. leech which is a mid-paced song that is pulled off very well and is a great song. hollow ground which is the most melodic on the album except for under the surface. both combine anger and melody to great results though.the bottom line is if you liked the first album by the haunted then you will like the second one it's just a little more melodic and the production's cleaner but the haunted still sound like the great thrash machine that they did on their first album. note;got four stars because of production and one filler song.

Setting new standards in death/hardcore crossover music:
While maybe not as esteemed as their previous vehicle, At the Gates, the Haunted have nevertheless garnered a considerable following with their juiced up neo-thrash riffs and death metal intensity. The only thing really keeping the Haunted out of the revival bins, especially with that all too obvious Slayer influence, are the rough and tumble vocals of Marco Aro, but even that doesn't really make much difference since this ensemble could filet the competition no matter what pigeonhole you tried to stick them in. Marco is not the same vocalist featured on "The Haunted" a couple of years ago, but then this is a more refined version of that band, pulling their punches only to box your ears with a heavy dose of melody. The chaotic misgivings of their debut have been held in check long enough to deliver a half hour of almost continuous modern day anthems. "Hollow Ground" is perhaps the most earth shattering "Made Me Do It" gets, but it's contagious hummability is definitely capable of doing volcanic damage to the vertebrae of headbangers worldwide.

Setting new standards in death/hardcore crossover music:
While maybe not as esteemed as their previous vehicle, At the Gates, the Haunted have nevertheless garnered a considerable following with their juiced up neo-thrash riffs and death metal intensity. The only thing really keeping the Haunted out of the revival bins, especially with that all too obvious Slayer influence, are the rough and tumble vocals of Marco Aro, but even that doesn't really make much difference since this ensemble could filet the competition no matter what pigeonhole you tried to stick them in. Marco is not the same vocalist featured on "The Haunted" a couple of years ago, but then this is a more refined version of that band, pulling their punches only to box your ears with a heavy dose of melody. The chaotic misgivings of their debut have been held in check long enough to deliver a half hour of almost continuous modern day anthems. "Hollow Ground" is perhaps the most earth shattering "Made Me Do It" gets, but it's contagious hummability is definitely capable of doing volcanic damage to the vertebrae of headbangers worldwide.

Not quite a masterpiece, but a good listen nonetheless:
Although "Haunted Made Me Do It" continues the retro-thrash tradition established on the Haunted's self-titled debut, there are also some notable differences. Vocalist Peter Dolving and his hardcore tendencies have been replaced by Marco Aro's throatier, death-metal leaning style. This fact, along with occasional use of melody and a couple cases of (gasp!) singing, make "Made Me Do It" more immediately recognizable as the work of a Swedish band than the original. However, if the Haunted's constant use of guitar harmonies and conservative use of melody smacks of the "Gothenburg scene," it's still obvious that their work is rooted in thrash metal first and foremost (anyone expecting to hear any keyboards on a Haunted album will be sorely disappointed). The Haunted are a lean, mean, thrash machine, as reminiscent of Slayer as of In Flames. Anyway, now that my long-winded intro has concluded, on to the album. Fans of the first album, or just about any old-school thrashers, will find a lot to like here. There aren't a lot of surprises, just metal played with ruthless efficiency and unbridled enthusiasm. After the brief intro of "Dark Intentions," "Bury Your Dead" and "Trespass" blast ahead at warp speed, propelled by Jensen and Anders Bjorler's hard-driving guitar harmonies and Per Jensen's extra-tight drumming. "Leech" slows things down a bit, but in the best possible way; it's a heavy midtempo tune with lots of pummelling bass. "Hollow Ground" and "Under the Surface" are where the band's newfound melodic sense is most obvious, as both contain some sung vocals from Marco. Marco won't make anyone forget about Geoff Tate or Bruce Dickinson, but his singing works well within the context of the album. If there's one thing that turns me off about "Made Me Do It," it's the production. It's just sort of, I dunno, sterile-sounding. These guys are obviously skilled musicians, but it seems like the vocals are pushed way to the front, and as a result the guitars are a bit muffled, and the rhythm section gets lost in the shuffle some of the time. I personally would have liked a slightly rawer sound, with a little bit more emphasis on those killer guitar harmonies. This is still a good album, but I think it could have been better with a "fuller" sound. Of course, given the rave reviews on this site, it appears I'm in the minority. But whatever the case, this album is still worth hearing.

• Dark Intentions
• Bury Your Dead
• Trespass
• Leech
• Hollow Ground
• Revelation
• World Burns
• Human Debris
• Silencer
• Under the Surface
• Victim Iced