As the years went by, The Haunted got better as a group and Peter Dolving's rabid screams became a trademark in their sound, which found its stride with 2004's _rEVOLVEr_ and 2006's _The Dead Eye_. The questions and arguments started finding their way to the surface when 2008's _Versus_ was released and I, being an avid fan of the two previous records, didn't really think of _Versus_ as a step back for The Haunted -- but it did make me a bit skeptic about the future. Now with three years after the relatively mediocre _Versus_, you'd expect that The Haunted have had time to produce a record with more composure and homogeneity. 2011's effort carries the name _Unseen_, and it is in fact homogenous; but its composure is up for argumentation.

_Unseen_ is, unfortunately, the exact opposite of what I was expecting from this esteemed Swedish conglomerate. I find it falls a lot closer to _Versus_ than any other record they've put out in the past, and that is definitely not a good sign for the future. Mr. Dolving's snarls are inexistent this time, Per Möller Jensen isn't pummeling the drums fast enough, and the guitars sound altogether weak and frail; all that means that _Unseen_ is quite an edge-less album without a single exciting moment to wipe out the utterly disappointing memory of actually listening to it.

Yet in the interest of being as honest a reviewer as possible, this album does show that The Haunted are actually capable of sounding different than usual but as things stand today, you wouldn't miss much if _Unseen_ remains unseen. Maybe, just maybe, this is a transitional album that would lead to a slower, less aggressive, more expansive and intelligent sound in the future, but until the Björler brothers and their former Rottweiler of a vocalist find a way to do that, I wouldn't be surprised if people walk out while tracks from this record are being played live.