The Haunted: ‘Songs of Last Resort’ Delivers Structured Aggression After Prolonged Silence

The Swedish metal band The Haunted is preparing to release its tenth studio album, ‘Songs of Last Resort,’ on May 30, 2025, via Century Media Records. The record will be the group’s first new material in eight years, following 2017’s ‘Strength in Numbers.’ Given the prolonged absence and the band’s longstanding position in the Scandinavian metal scene, the album is a relevant development for both their international audience and the genre’s broader dynamics.

Founded in Gothenburg in 1996 by former members of At the Gates, The Haunted became synonymous with the aggressive, riff-driven sound that defined a generation of European metal. Their last full-length release, ‘Strength in Numbers,’ arrived in 2017 and was met with solid critical acclaim. Since then, the band’s members have engaged in other musical and personal ventures, leaving fans uncertain whether another studio project would ever materialize.

The new album not only ends that uncertainty but also signals a renewed commitment to the band’s foundational style—marked by a convergence of technical thrash, death metal precision, and streamlined aggression. With ‘Songs of Last Resort,’ The Haunted confronts both creative renewal and the challenges of legacy after eight years of absence from the studio.

The Haunted: The Intervening Years

Following the release of their 2017 album ‘Strength in Numbers,’ The Haunted entered an extended period of reduced visibility. Although the band did not formally disband, public output ceased and internal communication slowed. During this interval, members of the Swedish metal group focused on individual endeavors, both musical and personal. Notably, bassist Jonas Björler concentrated on his role in At the Gates, another seminal act in Swedish extreme metal, which released two full-length albums during that time: ‘To Drink from the Night Itself’ (2018) and ‘The Nightmare of Being’ (2021). The creative demands associated with these projects contributed significantly to The Haunted’s absence.

In interviews, guitarist Patrik Jensen has explained that the band’s decision to delay recording was shaped less by external pressures than by the internal realities of sustaining a project across decades. Björler, in particular, experienced what Jensen described as a form of creative burnout following his intensive work with At the Gates. This sentiment was not presented as unusual, but rather indicative of the strain that long-term artistic productivity can place on musicians operating within overlapping projects. The Haunted’s approach was to wait until the group could reconvene with a unified sense of purpose rather than pursue a rushed or obligatory release.

This period of quiet did not result in personnel changes or the disbandment of the project, but it did lead to a recalibration of expectations among fans and observers. While some questioned whether The Haunted would resume activity, others pointed to the band’s history of intermittent output as consistent with their broader working rhythm. In this context, ‘Songs of Last Resort’ is not a revival in the conventional sense, but rather a continuation of a career defined by selective output and sustained collaboration. The album’s development emerged once conditions—both logistical and creative—aligned across the group’s key members.

‘Songs of Last Resort’: The Album

‘Songs of Last Resort’ presents twelve tracks across approximately forty minutes, offering a tightly constructed release that maintains The Haunted’s established sonic framework. The album avoids extended experimentation or deviation, instead concentrating on delivering concise compositions grounded in the band’s signature blend of thrash and melodic death metal. While the tracklist does not appear to follow a conceptual arc, the sequencing reflects a deliberate balance between tempo shifts and tonal variation.

Among the most discussed early tracks is ‘To Bleed Out,’ which features a rhythmic structure built around sharp percussive breaks and a restrained vocal performance from Marco Aro. The song’s structure recalls earlier material from ‘rEVOLVEr’ and ‘One Kill Wonder,’ with an updated sense of timing and compression. ‘Warhead,’ another advance single, leans more directly into mid-tempo thrash patterns, anchoring its chorus in repetition without resorting to hook-driven formulas. Throughout the album, production choices favor clarity over saturation, giving each instrument defined space without compromising the intensity of the performances.

The lyrics, while not published in full at time of writing, continue to revolve around themes of internal struggle, conflict, and disillusionment. Without relying on conceptual framing or overt narrative, the tracks on ‘Songs of Last Resort’ contribute to a body of work that remains consistent in tone and subject matter. As a release, it demonstrates restraint and coherence, offering no abrupt stylistic shifts but instead reaffirming The Haunted’s alignment with a sound that is both historically rooted and technically current. The album’s length and pacing suggest an intent to distill rather than expand—delivering impact without excess.

Album Production Details

The production of ‘Songs of Last Resort’ reflects both The Haunted’s technical discipline and their resolve to preserve the essence of their early recordings while updating their sonic profile for a contemporary audience. The bulk of the album was tracked at Bohus Sound Recording in Kungälv, Sweden, a studio with deep ties to the Scandinavian rock and metal canon. Established in the late 1970s, Bohus has hosted seminal acts ranging from Europe to HammerFall, and its acoustics are widely respected for preserving the nuances of analog instrumentation in heavy genres.

Recording sessions at Bohus spanned the final quarter of 2024 into early 2025, with a production approach that emphasized organic layering and live-performance energy over isolated overdubs. Guitarists Patrik Jensen and Ola Englund opted for minimal processing on rhythm tracks, employing a combination of tube amplifiers and vintage cabinets to replicate the raw tonal character heard on earlier albums such as ‘Made Me Do It’ (2000) and ‘Revolver’ (2004). The rhythm section—anchored by bassist Jonas Björler and drummer Adrian Erlandsson—recorded much of their material live in tandem to preserve tightness and spontaneity, a method less common in modern metal production but central to the band’s ethos.

Vocal recordings were completed separately at The Cellar Studio under the supervision of Björn “Speed” Strid, frontman of Soilwork and a longtime collaborator in the Gothenburg metal community. Strid served as vocal engineer rather than guest contributor, focusing on capturing Marco Aro’s vocal dynamics without excessive post-processing. The sessions were described by the band as intentionally sparse, prioritizing aggression and authenticity over polish.

Mixing and mastering were entrusted to Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, whose technical precision and genre fluency have made him one of the most in-demand producers in modern metal. Bogren’s previous work with acts such as Arch Enemy, Katatonia, and Sepultura has shaped the auditory profile of contemporary European metal, and his involvement brought sonic consistency and spatial depth to the final master. His mix of ‘Songs of Last Resort’ preserves the grit of the band’s performance while emphasizing clarity in double-tracked guitars and tightly gated drums—elements often lost in high-gain production environments.

The album’s visual presentation was developed by Andreas Diaz Pettersson, who has previously worked with Dark Tranquillity and The Crown. The cover artwork, rendered in black and ash tones, depicts a fragmented symbol resembling a corrupted sigil or military emblem—an image that suggests both collapse and resistance. While abstract, the design nods subtly to the album’s underlying preoccupation with political fragmentation, personal loss, and societal erosion.

Band Perspective and Internal Process

In public interviews leading up to the release of ‘Songs of Last Resort,’ guitarist Patrik Jensen offered insight into the band’s internal dynamics and creative process. Speaking to various independent outlets, Jensen emphasized that the decision to resume activity was driven primarily by timing and mutual interest among the band’s members, rather than industry pressure or external prompting. He described the writing and recording process as pragmatic and collaborative, shaped by logistical constraints and personal schedules rather than a single conceptual driver.

Jonas Björler’s role in the new material remained central, although his return to writing followed a significant period of disengagement due to burnout from his involvement with At the Gates. Rather than substituting or outsourcing compositional duties, the band waited until Björler was prepared to contribute in full. According to Jensen, this approach was consistent with how The Haunted has operated since its early years—prioritizing internal cohesion over deadlines. The absence of interim releases, such as EPs or live recordings, further suggests that the band did not view continuity of output as a requirement.

Vocalist Marco Aro, who rejoined the group in 2014, also contributed to shaping the tone and structure of the new songs, although his role in interviews has been more limited. Across the available commentary, the band has positioned the album less as a response to the hiatus and more as a result of personal alignment and available time. That consistency in outlook, paired with long-standing professional relationships, appears to have shaped both the creative and practical aspects of the project. The Haunted presents itself not as a band in resurgence, but one that operates when the conditions permit—not before.

Songs of Last Resort Tour 2025

Following the release of ‘Songs of Last Resort,’ The Haunted has announced an extensive touring schedule extending from June through December 2025. The itinerary includes headline performances, festival appearances, and international dates across Europe and Asia, reflecting the band’s renewed presence in live settings after several years of inactivity. Notable bookings include Germany’s Chronical Moshers Open Air (June 6), Sweden’s Gröna Lund (July 24), and a rare appearance in Tokyo at Loud Park (October 13), marking the group’s return to the Japanese market.

The formal tour leg—billed as the Songs of Last Resort Tour 2025—begins on October 30 in Uppsala, Sweden, and continues through mid-December with stops in Örebro, Gothenburg, Malmö, and other regional cities. Support for the Swedish dates will be provided by Stadkaej and Göstlud, two domestic acts aligned with the heavier spectrum of the national metal scene. The routing includes both club venues and mid-sized halls, suggesting a strategy geared toward audiences familiar with the band’s catalog rather than broad market expansion.

Additional dates include performances at genre-specific festivals such as the Damnation Festival in Manchester (November 9) and Close-Up Båten, a Baltic Sea cruise event catering to metal audiences. While further shows have been hinted at by the band’s representatives, the current itinerary already reflects a significant operational commitment and marks the group’s most active live calendar in nearly a decade. As with the album, the tour prioritizes consistency and measured visibility over rebranding, placing The Haunted back into circulation without reconfiguring its established identity.

The Gothenburg Sound and Its Lasting Influence

The musical movement known as the Gothenburg Sound emerged in the early 1990s in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is widely credited with shaping what would come to be classified as melodic death metal. Distinct from the more abrasive and rhythmically dissonant styles prevalent in the North American death metal scene, the Gothenburg approach emphasized harmonized guitar leads, structured compositions, and a balance between aggression and melody. The movement took its name from the city where many of its foundational acts originated and recorded, rather than from a consciously unified scene or collective manifesto.

Foundational bands often associated with the genre’s origin include At the Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquillity—groups that shared both geographic proximity and personnel connections. Albums such as ‘Slaughter of the Soul’ (At the Gates, 1995), ‘The Jester Race’ (In Flames, 1996), and ‘The Gallery’ (Dark Tranquillity, 1995) are frequently cited as canonical examples of the style, each contributing to the genre’s recognition outside Sweden. These records integrated the heaviness of death metal with the melodic sensibilities of traditional heavy metal and the tight riff structures of thrash. The result was a hybrid form that appealed to audiences across genre boundaries, including listeners of classic metal, hardcore punk, and even progressive rock.

While The Haunted formed somewhat later, in 1996, the group shares both direct and indirect ties to the Gothenburg Sound. Guitarist Anders Björler and bassist Jonas Björler were founding members of At the Gates, and their compositional influence carried over into The Haunted’s work. However, The Haunted’s sound drew more heavily from thrash metal and hardcore punk, distinguishing them from their melodic death metal peers. Their involvement in the post-Gothenburg phase positioned them as successors rather than originators, yet their work remained closely aligned with the scene’s evolution. Their presence within the broader Swedish metal canon continues to be understood in relation to the foundation laid by the Gothenburg movement, both in terms of technical precision and in the use of melody as a structural—not ornamental—component.

The Gothenburg Sound’s broader legacy resides in its capacity to expand death metal’s expressive range without compromising intensity. It created a formal vocabulary that was later adopted by bands across Northern and Eastern Europe—particularly in Germany, Finland, and Poland—where acts incorporated Gothenburg’s layered guitar work into more confrontational or cold production styles. While the scene itself was never codified as a movement in the traditional sense, its aesthetic priorities—clarity, precision, and unrelenting velocity—continue to shape extreme music well beyond Sweden’s borders.

Conclusion

‘Songs of Last Resort’ does not reframe The Haunted’s position in contemporary metal, nor does it attempt to. Instead, the album operates within the band’s established parameters, offering a concise, well-produced contribution that aligns with their prior work. Its release, following eight years of silence, reflects a calculated re-engagement rather than a shift in direction or audience. For listeners familiar with the band’s catalogue, it reaffirms a specific musical vocabulary without embellishment or reinvention.

The album’s significance lies in its restraint. At a time when many veteran acts either dissolve or attempt reinvention, The Haunted’s approach—rooted in continuity and internal readiness—illustrates a model of long-term artistic endurance. With Century Media Records facilitating a low-profile but well-structured rollout, the album has reached its audience without theatrics or recalibration. It stands not as a spectacle, but as a continuation.

As such, ‘Songs of Last Resort’ reinforces The Haunted’s function as a band that operates on its own schedule, guided more by cohesion among its members than by market cycles. The release may not shift the direction of metal, but it sustains a presence that has remained consistent for over two decades—quietly shaped by discipline, familiarity, and sustained intent.