Patrik Jensen Discusses The Haunted's Vocalists

THE HAUNTED guitarist Patrik Jensen spoke to www.futhermocker.dk on Monday (October 6) about singer Marco Aro's departure from the group and the return of original vocalist Peter Dolving.

“Marco let us know about him leaving the band when we still had a few gigs left to do [as part of our last tour],” Jensen revealed. “He was of course fine with doing the remaining shows, but wanted to let us know in fairly good time before the last show, so we could start searching for a new singer as soon as possible… So, yes, Marco and the band knew that the show in Malmö [in August] was his last show before we got up on stage.

“We were, or at least I was, almost paralyzed for the first two weeks [after Marco left], not knowing where to look… I mean, just the feeling of members leaving the band, felt so frustrating…especially now, when we were finally free to get a new contract and everything. It felt like quitting on the finishing line to me at first…but this was a conscious thought from Marco's side. He wanted us to start fresh, with a singer that would be with the band for the long run…So, full respect once again to Marco. We had maybe one or two names we wanted to look into more carefully, but when we heard about Peter being interested, everything else was put on the backburner.”

When asked if he was confident that Peter would be able to pull off singing in a more aggressive style after not playing in any heavy bands for so long, Jensen said, “Oh, I have no doubt in my mind at all about that. Peter is a really good singer…and if he has done anything to his voice between the time he left the band and now, is learning how to sing even better. I have total confidence in Peter's ability to take the band to the next level.

“Peter will be more involved in the writing process, as Peter lives here in Gothenburg (Marco lives in Stockholm, a five-hour drive away) So, saying that the songs will be more vocal orientated is not stretching it… Peter has a very wide range of vocals…so it'll be both aggressive and low-key vocals for sure.”

THE HAUNTED, who have fulfilled their contractual obligations to Earache Records with the release of this year's “One Kill Wonder”, hope to sign a new record deal during the coming months. The group's new studio album is not expected to surface before late spring/early summer.