The Haunted: "We write about the absolute chaos of the world we live in"

The legacy of The Haunted is massive. Alongside At The Gates, they are among the most important bands in shaping a sound that began with thrash, hardcore, and melodic death metal, eventually branching into the strands of metalcore that have dominated heavy music for years. Their contribution to the evolution of our music is invaluable.

The first two albums, the self-titled debut and "Made Me Do It", undoubtedly rank very high among the metal albums that closed out the 1990s. "Revolver" and "Unseen", on the other hand, each brought change and experimentation in their own ways, but they too remain incredible records.

For about a decade now, however, they’ve returned firmly to the foundation of their original sound. With the most stable lineup they’ve ever had, Marco Aro once again on vocals, and the new album "Songs Of Last Resort", they manage to connect more closely than ever with the mighty Made Me Do It. As part of their tour, they will also be coming to our country, and we took the chance to talk with Marco - about the new album, the live shows, "Made Me Do It", At The Gates, the music industry, and all those legends that followed the band since we were kids. Them and us.

I’m very glad to have this interview regarding your upcoming shows in Greece, but also your latest album that came earlier this year. So, I was thinking it's been 25 years since your first album with the band, "Made Me Do It", and here we are with a new one that has enough songs that sound like a direct descendant to this album. Did it feel like back with your song this time?

I think it's more that we were all having the same mindset that we had when we made "The Haunted Made Me Do It". Because, all the general songwriters of that album was all participating on this one as well. Because, Jonas has had that at the gates and Ola has been doing his stuff and Jensen has been doing stuff. So, this is the first time in a long, long time that everybody got together with the same mindset to do an album.

So, how do you see those first years with The Haunted now? Touring the world with a huge album, feeling the legacy of At The Gates on your hands, combined of course with that new monster in the Swedish metal scene.

Good and bad, I'd say! Because, we were a lot younger then and a bit crazier. So, We had too much fun sometimes…

(laughs)

But, I wouldn't change it for the world anyway, because we've been like really good friends for almost 25-26 years. Even though I wasn't in the band, we still kept in touch and everything. We've never had an argument in the band, never ever. We were all really good friends going around the world doing really fun stuff...

Every time we got together for a live show, we talked about a new album. So within those eight years we got excited about it six times, but we never actually did it

Now, "Songs Of Last Resort" took eight years to be. Why did it take so long?

I guess because we're not a rehearsing band. We don't have like a rehearsal room or anything. We used to have one, but then the pandemic came and that was Jonas' garage and Jonas remodeled the garage into an office. So we were out. We didn't have a rehearsal room. And the thing is that the only time that we get together nowadays is when we're doing shows. So the pandemic got in the way, and then life got in the way. And every time we got together to do a show, we were always talking about making an album. So during these eight years, we got excited about six times to make an album, but we never did… But then we met up for last year's Sweden Rock Festival, and we all agreed that "OK, enough with the bullshit. We have to make this album now". So we had eight years' worth of material, and we didn't touch any of those songs. We wrote completely new songs. And the whole thing, I guess it was like two or three months and we started recording demos. So, it was a really quick paced writing process.

Are you planning to do anything with this content that you have in your hands from the previous eight years?

We've been talking a lot about putting out EPs and stuff, because we recorded like 17 songs for this album and only 14 made it. So, we're still having those songs as well, which are recorded and mastered and mixed and everything, which are ready to go. They are really, really good songs. Jensen is already talking about probably making a new album and stuff. We're just going to have to go back to those songs and see if there's anything worth keeping. Because also those eight years’ worth of songs, they're not bad songs at all. Maybe they need to be brushed up a bit to get to the modern times and stuff. Even though we do not follow trends or anything, we stay the same. That was the only thing that we talked about while making this album was "let's make it an aggressive one". Let's take The Haunted and turn it up to 11. And I pretty much think that we did that.

Deep down, I wanted to impress Bjorn Strid with my performances

Also, your singing seems a bit more consistent in this album. You still have your distinctive style, but it sounds like you worked even more professionally, should I say, than usual to achieve the result. Is it because you have more time or simply more experience?

I guess it's more experience, but also I had a new vocal producer Bjorn Strid from Soilwork.

Okay….

And we've known each other for a really, really long time, but we've never done anything professional together. I feel personally that I didn't do anything different, but I've gotten this question a lot. And the thing is that I think that I subconsciously tried to impress him. That's what I think I did. Because I didn't change anything. My approach was still the same. Okay, the voice is a lot stronger now because I'm older, but I think that I subconsciously tried to impress him. That's what I think it was.

Interesting. Now, the album starts with "Warhead", and I can't help but wonder if this album has an anti-war theme based on...

Yeah, it does. The thing is that when we started writing lyrics, Jensen was writing lyrics, Ola was writing, I was writing, and we wrote a few of them together. And we didn't set out to have a theme or anything. But once we came back together and presented the lyrics to each other, it turned out that we were all writing about the same thing, which is this absolute shit show of a world that we're living in right now. It's horrible. I guess it's hard to ignore your surroundings. And that's why it turned out that we were all writing about the same thing.

This makes it the most socially sensitive album that you've made with the band, right?

Yeah. The thing is that The Haunted has never been a political band, nor will we ever be. But as I said, it's really hard to ignore what's going on around you. I don't think that we set out to be like anti-anything… because I have a military background and blah blah blah… It was easy to write about stuff like that because we're all living in this crazy world.

Now, back to the musical side of the album. The first three songs have these thrust, melodeath energy that can be found on your very early works. But a song like "To Bleed Out" has a very different, kind of Amon Amarth style. Also "Collateral Damage" is much darker and at the same time melodic. Where all the songs written in the same period with the same mindset?

Jensen wrote "To Bleed Out". And I guess because that song is about friendship and lost friendship, I believe that he really wanted to make an emotional song. And I really think that he pulled it off with that one. I really enjoy playing it live because you can tell the audience likes it as well. So, it's kind of a throwback to "Hollow Ground", I'd say.

And also is "Through the Fire" is the "Hate Song of 2025.

(laughs) I don't know! The thing about it is when we heard that for the first time, we thought "This really needs to be on the album!". Because, we have never written a more thrashy song than "Through the Fire". We changed the title of it, because it was called "Through the Blitz" from the beginning. And it sounded too much like an old thrash kind of song title. So we decided to change it to "Through The Fire". And it’s one of my favorite songs on the album as well, because it's got all the characteristics of early 90s thrash.

You told me about the vocal style and the difference that Bjorn made to you, but overall the sound of the album sounds more organic and richer than before, especially the guitars. So were there any specific different things that you did during the recording process this time?

Usually, back in the day, we decided on a studio and a producer. But this time we decided on a studio and then we sent out five songs to five different producers just to see how they were thinking about it and if maybe we're missing something or we maybe we should sound more modern or blah blah blah… so we sent out to five completely different producers and then Jens [editor: Boprgen] came back with the thing that was absolute closest to what we had imagined. And Oskar as well who recorded this stuff he was pretty damn close as well. But and Jens, he's got this sound that is hard to describe, but it fit us so, well.

For me it wasn’t just the At The Gates legacy, because I loved The Haunted just as much

Okay, makes sense. Now let's go back in the day when we were kids and we had the feeling that The Haunted was the successor of the huge legacy of At The Gates. Of course, it wasn't like that really, but that's how it felt really at that time. Did you ever feel this way when you entered the band for the first time, especially since "Made Me Do It" had a feel closer to "Slaughter To The Soul"?

Yeah! The thing is that the first time I met the guys, it was on tour with my old band, Face Down. We did a tour together with Napalm Death and Crowbar and At The Gates. And that's when I met them the first time and I was 95, just when "Slaughter Of The Soul" came out. And I remember hearing them live for the first time doing "Blinded By Fear", and I just fell in love. And then after that, At The Gates split. And the very next day, The Haunted was formed. And they put out the first album, The Haunted, and I fell in love with that album as well. And when I got the call from Anders… because Pete has Pete was never in the band for the first album he was just a session member, but when he left I got a call from Anders and he asked me if I wanted to come down and audition. And I did. And they had the worst poker faces ever! Because Adrian couldn't stop grinning, and the other people you could tell that it was in the bag. It was really in the bag. But it wasn't the legacy of At The Gates for me, because the thing is, The Haunted was a band that I loved just as much.

And we had this rule back in the day, up until 2002 probably, that we played one At the Gates song in every place where At The Gates never came. So, we did "Blinded by Fear" a few times in various countries and towns where At The Gates never played... Well, I guess that was the legacy, but it was never a competition between The Haunted and At The Gates, because At The Gates was dead at the time. We pretty much just paid homage to At The Gates, because when they came back in 2007-2008 it was amazing.

Within just a few years I lost very good friends...

Are you planning to pay tribute to Tompa?

I don't know what's going on in that camp right now. I'm just leaving them be. Let them grieve in peace, because we're all grieving. But those really, really close to him, it's just better to just leave them be for a while and not even talk about it. Because, it hit all of us really, really hard. Even though it was this last year it was pretty much expected. But once that day comes, that really, really hurts.

Yeah…

The last few months were really terrible actually. And the same thing happened like a few years ago when LG [editor: Petrov] died as well. It was also out of the fucking blue. Out of the fucking blue. It just came out and all of a sudden he was sick and it went really, really fast. In a span of a few years, I lost really good friends...

The only thing we can do is to celebrate their music and their legacy...

I think that Thomas would agree with what Ozzy said. Don't mourn, celebrate...

Jensen and the Bjorler brothers wanted to find a way out of that contract with Earache

Let's get back in the day again, because legend has it that you recorded and produced "Made Me Do It" without Earache knowing anything about it. And only when it was done, you went to them and informed them that you had made an album. Is that true?

Yeah!

And how did they react?

They didn’t react… because they were a record label that really didn't care about their bands, in my opinion. I didn't have a really good relationship with them at all. Because, we pretty much inherited a shitty contract, which was At The Gates contract and we also inherited their debt. Which is also really shitty. So I'd say that Jensen and the Bjorler brothers were pretty much in…what do you call it? They wanted to try to probably get out of the contract and try to seek for something else, but Earache picked it up...

But we were really, really proud of that album. And I didn't know about all that. I didn't really concern myself being the new guy about the politics back then. But as our relationship grew, my relationship with Earache deteriorated a lot.

Yeah, it can happen. It's a difficult industry.

It is. It's a very difficult industry. But nowadays, being older and being through all these shitty promoters, shitty record labels, shitty deals and stuff, we are much better prepared than we've ever been. So yeah, we don't fall for that kind of shit anymore.

You came out stronger through these difficulties.

Yeah… because, imagine yourself… you're in your 20s and your band is becoming really successful. And these people come and they offer you all kinds of stuff. And, of course, you're going to sign! Because you're really short-sighted in your thinking. But nowadays, if it doesn't sound or feel right, we're not doing it.

Yeah. That's experience...

Yeah, it is. It is. That goes also for doing shows and tours and stuff. We've toured so much that we don't need to do it anymore. Because, we all have jobs and we all have families and houses and stuff to pay for. So we can pick and choose what we want to do. And that's why we're really excited about coming to Greece, because our first taste of Greece was back in ‘99, I believe it was [editor: it was 2001]. We played at Woodstock!

You remember the name of that venue?

Yeah, I remember the name. I remember the promoter also, Harry!

Okay!

I guess he's old now. He must be old now, because I think he was in his 40s at the time. Maybe not. I don't know. But, still, I remember the first show that we did. We did Thessaloniki the day before and then we did Athens and we had this record store signing thing. I remember that. And they came out with tray after tray with ouzo and beer and stuff. So we were pretty drunk before the show. And I remember that show being super crazy, super-super crazy. That's why we made it a point to try to come to Greece and Athens as often as we could. And I believe the last time we came with that the old lineup of The Haunted was when we opened up for Exodus.. And then, with this lineup, I think Gagarin was the last time… for "Strength In Numbers" I believe it was. Or was it "Exit Wounds"?

It was "Exit Wounds"...

Yeah, it sounds more like the "Exit Wounds", actually.

Anders is always the one who breaks the lineup. He keeps leaving and coming back, same as with At The Gates

So, really, this must be the longest time that you had the steady line-up in the band without member changes. Does it mean that you do the check?

Anders, kind of fucks that up always. He ends up leaving and coming back and leaving again. He's been doing that and At The Gates as well. Yeah, but this is probably the longest line-up we've had.

So, does this mean that you have found a chemistry with each other that works and you want to keep it like that?

Yeah, most definitely! Because, it's a blessing to be in your 50s, traveling the world with your best friends, doing many times really childish stuff…

(laughs)

And so yeah, it's really fun. And Ola, being the youngest member of the band, he's still, he's the greatest guy. The dynamics of this band now is super fun, but also very respectful. You can tell if someone is having a bad day or something, you just leave them alone. We know each other so well that there's never any grinding or anything. We know that somebody gets drunk one night and says something really, really stupid, but you can just sit back and relax because… okay, he's going to regret that in the morning anyway. Let's not even make anything out of it. So, we’re just old people doing childish stuff and having a great, great time. Now you can tell when we're playing live as well that we are having the greatest time.

There's nothing riding on it anymore. It's not like making money or doing stuff just because you have to do them. Because, that's what we said when we put this thing together again… We said "Let's keep it fun". As long as it's fun, we're most definitely going to do it. But once it becomes a must, we have to sit down and think about it. Because that "must" kills all the fun. I'd rather have fun and be broke than do "must". And then everybody can tell that when you get up on stage, you're at work.

Yeah, yeah. And there are too many bands playing like being at work…

They have the same set list and the same speech in between songs and it's the same. I can't remember and mention any bands, but if you see them two nights in a row when you're out on tour with them, they have a set format. They say exactly the same thing in between songs and it's all rehearsed. We don't do that. We can start joking with people. We can change a song right in the middle of the set, like "I would like to do that instead. That's a lot more fun"...

It's true that live shows have become a bit more stable, even in the metal world that used to be different.

Yeah, because now it's work. People are working.

When I get on stage, I look for energy in the front row. If I connect with one person, that’s where I draw my energy from

We don't get that in Greece usually, but there are usually four or five bands on a tour and they all got like 40-60 minutes to play. And in between it’s like Formula One when they change tires. They got to change very quickly and everyone has an exact timeline… it's all predetermined…

Yeah. And it takes the fun out of it, in my opinion. Because I like to see a band that is having fun. They're like really having fun. They enjoy this company. They enjoy the connection they get with the audience. And that's what is really important to me as well. When I get up on stage, even though I have a bad day, it's not your fault. You don't have to see it. So, I always look for energy in the front row. If I connect with one person, that's where I get my energy from.

So, earlier on when you told about Anders going in and out of the band, I sensed a little bit of frustration. And I think that maybe all these lineup changes, the constant lineup changes, maybe held you back at some point. Especially when with "Made Me Do It", the band really took off. Do you agree with that?

Yeah, I do. Anders always left the band, because he's been like this guy that really doesn't want to settle down and he's not really sure about what he wants to do. But then again, he's always been a part of the band anyway, even though he left for a few months or left for a year. He's always in the periphery. But I left the band in 2003 and that was just because I was having too much fun. I was doing a lot of drugs. I was drinking a lot and I was being a fucking dick. So I had to stop because my family also said that "Okay, enough is enough. You want to stay with us or keep doing that stupid shit?". I decided to quit drugs and quit the music and everything just to start from zero again. I've been drug free since 2003...

I think you made the wise decision…

Yeah, I did. For the time being, it was most definitely the best decision, because I had a newborn kid and everything. And I can't put those people, my family through being a fucking drug addict.

And then Pete came back.

Yes, because that was also when they asked me "Who do you who do you think should replace you?" And I said "Bring Pete back because I don't think the fans can take another new face". And so, yeah, so they did a few albums with Peter and then that kind of imploded.

The periods with you in the band and Pete as a frontman were always enormously different in style. Why do you think the songwriting changes so much between the two different faces of the band?

It's not that I don't know how to sing, it's just that I don't want to. I like screaming a lot better… but Pete is like a real vocalist. He's a real singer, and he writes lyrics in a completely different way than I did. And The Haunted, the guys being very, very good musicians, I think they wanted to explore something else. Because they knew the fast songs with the heavy riffing, and they just wanted to explore something else. And with Pete, they had that opportunity to do that. So, I think that that's the main cause why The Haunted started sounding different.

It’s been many years since a band took me on a journey like Sleep Token

Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Now, you know, I believe that The Haunted, along with At The Gates, were among the main influence points of the huge metalcore scene that followed. Do you follow that scene at all? Do you see it as an evolution of the sound that you established years ago?

I used to follow it, but not anymore. Because, you know, yourself being probably the same age as me, when we listen to music, we tend to go back to the older stuff. I find it hard to be impressed with the new bands. If I need to, if I want to be impressed by new bands, they have to be something really, really special. Like a band like Sleep Token, which is not metal, but somebody decided to call them metal. Because they're a prog band and they can do anything. But it was a long time ago that a band took me on a journey like they do.

Totally agree…

Because they're really brave when they write music. They don't care. They don't care if you don't like it, they like it. That's the whole thing. So yeah, and there's a few other new hardcore bands and stuff, but I think that a lot of the newer bands that are making it now, they pretty much sound the same in my opinion. And everybody's going to have a woman vocalist… that's a trend now as well. And I like Spiritbox and I like all the other bands with female vocalists, but it seems like everybody has to have a female vocalist now. Otherwise, you're not going to make it. It becomes all the wrong reasons, in my opinion.

We’ll never make our sound younger, because we sound like The Haunted, period

It also has to do with the industry and because I'm thinking nowadays commercial success comes through very different routes than it did 20 or 30 years ago, with social media and marketing techniques that have changed the game so much. And I guess you agree with that. So to what extent, if any, would The Haunted be willing to sift their sound or play this game this new game of becoming successful in the new era of the industry?

Yeah, we did that. I'm coming up to this album when we tried a new producer, like all like young producers to see if that was something for us, to make our music sound fresh and young. And it wasn't for us, because The Haunted is very unique with their sound. There's not many bands that sound like The Haunted. I'd say that we would never come out with a statement like Slayer did with "God Hates Us All", when they said "This album's going to sound just like Slipknot". No, we will never do that because we sound like The Haunted, period.

Okay, understood. It's pretty clear. So I think you told us about the next steps that you're already considering in your album or the new EP or something with a left of songs. Any other plans that you'd like to share with us before closing this interview? And then end with a few words about the upcoming show?

Oh, the upcoming show is going to be the greatest one you've ever seen, probably. Well, the thing is that this year we're not doing too much stuff, because we missed out on so many shows and opportunities because the album came out in May. So, all the festivals were booked and everything. So, next year we have a lot of offers and that we're looking at. I guess next year is going to be a really busy year for us, so it's going to be exciting and fun. And hopefully we’ll go places we haven't been before or I haven't been before. That would be really nice.

Thank you for your time. I really enjoyed our conversation. Hope you did too. We’ll be waiting you in Greece once again for a live show and to how it's done…

Yeah, you will not be disappointed.