One Kill Wonder (Spec) [Extra tracks, Special Edition]

The Haunted | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Special Edition
• Label: Earache Records
• ASIN: B0001Z4P0K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,477 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Given that the Haunted features ex-members of the acclaimed At the Gates, one expects superior heavy metal. But the follow-up to 2000’s excellent The Haunted Made Me Do It is simply superb. Only 38 minutes long, it's free of filler and perfectly formed. More than a simple, adrenalin-fuelled rush, One Kill Wonder’s tracks blend into one another--piercing guitars meld beautifully with vocal shrieks, and grand melodies dominate the awe-inspiring charge. The Haunted claim to be inspired by old-school thrashers like Testament, but their influences clearly stretch back to Rainbow and the Scorpions (though they eschew the showy vocals of Dio and Klaus Meine). The Eastern-tinged dual-guitar assaults of "Shadow World" and "DOA" recall the Schenker brothers at their most brutal, while the dramatic instrumental "Demon Eyes" fades out with a medieval swing worthy of Ritchie Blackmore. Naturally, One Kill Wonder is righteously heavy. Few bands can match the intensity and power of "Urban Predator," "Downward Spiral," and "Bloodletting." --Dominic Wills

Product Description

Recently unearthed limited edition pressing of the Swedish Metal band's third album, originally released in 2002, comes in a sturdy clam box containing six art cards. The Haunted features former members of the seminal At The Gates. Relentlessly brutal and fast without sacrificing melody, the band's sound combines Death and Thrash Metal with concise songwriting and the commercial accessibility of bands such as Metallica. One Kill Wonder was the follow-up to their 2000 release The Haunted Made Me Do It, which is considered a modern Metal classic. Earache. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first classic of 2003 is here!, February 26, 2003

By 

Wheelchair Assassin (The Great Concavity) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Kill Wonder (Audio CD)

Although The Haunted's first two albums were both excellent, apparently they were just warmups for "One Kill Wonder." The Haunted's third album certainly isn't a departure from their modernized version of old-school thrash metal, but it distinguishes itself by being even faster, darker, and more malevolent than its predecessors. With a sound honed as sharp as a Samurai sword, and every bit as lethal, "One Kill Wonder" is doubtless one of the most superbly crafted metal albums released so far this decade. While some melodic elements do creep in, speed and heaviness are the name of the game here. Never have the band's often-mentioned parallels to Slayer been more apparent: "One Kill Wonder" is so devastating in its precision, and so unrelenting in its aggression, that any comparisons to classics like "Reign in Blood" and "Divine Intervention" are completely fitting. Marco Aro screams like a man possessed, Jensen and Anders Bjorler unveil a nonstop stream of thunderous riffs and ear-piercing solos, and Per Jensen's drumming is downright machinelike. Jonas Bjorler's bass isn't as audible as I'd like, but when everything else is so good it's easy to overlook. "Godpuppet," the first song after the intro, crams more sonic mayhem into two minutes than I would've thought possible, and the band rarely missteps from there. They don't slow things down until the fifth track, "D.O.A." and even then the result is a crushingly heavy song, filled with violent riffing and tortured vocals. I could rave about every song, but they're all no less than excellent, so I'm not going to bother. Now stop reading and buy buy buy!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genre Defining, June 6, 2005

By 

Sean D. Gerstenlauer (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Kill Wonder (Audio CD)

My taste in music runs the gamut from Abdullah Ibrahim to Hank Williams Jr., but even the most open mind can be tested by some of the more extreme metal bands that have marched on the scene over the years. Bands like Deicide and Mortal Sin come to mind; Beavis and Butthead-cum-Anton LaVey Satanic lyrical content, and three to four cord riffs played really fast over blast drumming. You can play it on an Ipod but if you ever let anyone else listen to it, they'd call you a idiot, even if they enjoyed heavy metal music.

Many of the bands I've been exposed to in recent years hailing from the Swedish Metal scene are different. They are in many ways equally as extreme, but more than a few of them display a level of musicianship and songwriting ability that at its best, is as brilliant as anything found in any genre. And The Haunted on this album are the best example.

Anyone who says there is no correlation between music and feelings of aggression ought to listen to track #9 so perfectly titled "Sh#thead", and if you've done so without robbing a liquor store by the end of the song I withdraw this review. Incredible drumming and guitar, and track after track of the most catchy and brutal riffs, its as if the group managed to meld every bonecrushing metal lick you've ever heard or even imagined on one album. You get used to the semi-cookie monster scream vocals and once they grow on you, you're hooked. Skip their new one and get this album now!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Haunted - 'One Kill Wonder' (Earache), February 4, 2005

By 

Mike Reed (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: One Kill Wonder (Audio CD)

'One...' is the Swedish death metal band's third release,it's an okay effort,that is if you like the genre.Tunes that I thought were decent enough are "Privation Of Faith,Inc.",the in-your-gut slammin' "Demon Eyes","Sh**head" and "Bloodletting".Line-up:Marco Aro-vocals,Anders Bjorler-guitar,Jonas Bjorler-bass and Adrian Erlandsson-drums.Just might appeal to fans of At The Gates,Dark Angel,In Flames and Testament.