Unseen: Limited

First and foremost you are obviously a Haunted fan if you are looking at this CD. Let me just say that this review may be a bit premature as I have only listened to the CD once all the way through so I have yet to completely come to a solid standing on my opinion on their latest CD and "new direction". That being said, this is one of those albums that will have to grow on you. It is not an album like RevolveR or The Deadeye that punches you in the face from the first note to the last and leaves you hitting the repeat button to listen to the whole thing all over again. There are two types of Haunted fans, you have the Marco camp and the Peter camp. I am with the second group. Marco to me always sounded like he had a mouth full of marbles, a sure sign of lack of talent. Anyone can yell, scream and growl and his voice always sounded generic to me. Peter on the other hand has a dynamic voice and can growl and scream with the best of them but also sings clean very well and distinctive. I am getting off track so back to the album. Expect a lot mellower stuff and less attitude on this Haunted outing. Even Versus seems highly aggressive in comparison. The songs with a few exceptions are unfortunately largely forgettable and none of them really stand out. I initially felt the same way about Versus and only liked about 3 songs on it, but after repeated visits to Versus I really like the whole album with the exception of Skuld. So all in all, this is an album that will have to grow on you. It may even (dare I say it), be the Haunted album that your girlfriend might like instead of scaring her out of the room. Many fans will bash the band for their softer direction but the thing is that bands need to evolve and change for better or worse, especially thrash singers. They can't scream forever, vocal chords just can't hold up to it so get over it. If you want an album that sounds exactly like the last 8 albums and enjoy predicatbility and bordeom go buy a Megadeth album, (any of them). But if you are a metal head that is a bit more mature pick up this album and let it grow on you. It will probably (eventually) become a favorite.

VERY good CD a MUST have for the HAUNTED COLLECTION..

Excellent!!!

From the moment I played this I loved it... I haven't listened to a band that had so many tracks with so many parts where I honestly couldn't think of anyone else doing it. Take the opening track `Never Better' to me this is classic Haunted it kicks you in the nuts from the off but wastes no time deviating from the tired thrash metal template and mixing it up in more ways than one.I like the haunted for this very reason, they are adept at keeping things interesting and mixing the musical styles up, subtlety, but still remaining 100% them. Even here their influences are easy to spot (a little Tool on `Disappear', some In Flames on `Unseen' to name the most obvious) but they always remain unmistakably Haunted.The best part of all...apart from the solid drumming, the awesome harmonious crunching guitars and the leading bass (so many bands bury the bass, the haunted don't)...the best part is the vocals Peter's voice is all over the place...but the quality never drops...I swear there are moments when it sounds like the Cure and some of the quiet harmonies are very Beatles-esq.While tracks like `Motionless', 'The City', `Them' are in a similar territory to their `Dead Eye' album...on the upbeat ultra-accessible side of thrash, there are heavy moments where The Haunted are being as brutal as they have ever been...'The Skull', `Attention' and a sort of Southern dipped `No Ghost'.Some may try and peg this album as Haunted `Lite' but it simply isn't true there are just as many thrash-tastic parts to it as there have ever been and made even more exciting by being juxtaposed by more light-touch moments. It is unique in the best way possible.I have a handful of bands who I can honestly say have never done a bad album...The Haunted are right on the top of that list and the fact only 3 people have reviewed this album after such a long time is criminal.If you have never heard the Haunted and you like it heavy check out `One Kill Wonder' first, if you like it more plain sailing try `Dead Eye' if you want something in-between try this...if you're a Haunted fan then you should own this already.

le thrash brutal de the haunted, efficace mais peut-être un peu linéaire, a déjà été mâtiné de groove et d'autres "expérimentations", mais cela en faisant perdre un peu de sa force au groupe.ce qui m'étonne, et m'intéresse, sur cette nouvelle livraison, c'est le tour de force que constitue la présence de chant clair, de parties néo, voire groovy, bien intégrées dans un ensemble qui reste heavy.les guitares et la batteries restent fermement metal, mais elles laissent de la place à la mélodie. unseen est un numéro d'équilibriste réussi, le groupe évoluant sur le fil du rasoir, la fine ligne qui sépare furie metal et mélodie. je pense que ce disque, que je commence à écouter en boucle, ne va pas quitter mon autoradio de si tôt, et très certainement révéler des trésors à chaque nouvelle écoute.