The Haunted appeared to be finished in 2012 when they lost vocalist Peter Dolving and then lost most of the rest of the band, them being guitarist Anders Björler and drummer Per Möller Jensen.
Fortunately that wasn't the case. The band gained back former drummer Adrian Erlandsson and former vocalist Marco Aro, as well as new member Feared guitarist Ola Englund in place of Björler, and proceeded to bust skulls with their newest record Exit Wounds! Founding guitarist and current member of the group Patrik Jensen explains the major split in the group to EMP Rock Invasion (below), essentially citing artist differences and low pay as the major factors.
"We lost three members back in 2012 due to many reasons. But Peter left the band first. We tried to find a new singer with the four remaining pieces. Then Anders left in August [of that year] and then Per left a week later. So it was only me and the bass player left, me and Jonas [Björler] … I think part of the reason [Peter, Anders and Per left] was that the two latest albums with that lineup [2008's Versus and 2011's Unseen], they weren't so successful. So we were professional musicians for 13 years. And you need to have money to put food on the table and to pay your rent. If you don't get paid, there's gonna be trouble. So I think that was part of it. And then we also felt disappointed, or frustrated, that people didn't understand Unseen."
As a personal aside, I remember reviewing Unseen back when it came out in 2011 and hating it as well… oops. In retrospect it does seem like the split was for the best, considering their 2014 output has been pretty widely regarded as on par with their earlier works.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OylyOy8kR8Q[/youtube]
[via Blabbermouth]
