The Haunted made a huge name for themselves with their impressive 1999 opus "The Haunted Made Me Do It" and with members of the legendary Swedish metallers At The Gates involved in the band, such an impact is of little surprise. Nearly four years later, the band have now returned with "One Kill Wonder", a devastating blitzkrieg assault of speed metal and Swedish thrash that recalls the styles early 90's glory days.

Listening to "One Kill Wonder" it's hard not to reminisce upon Slayer's heydays or some prime moments from At The Gates's back catalogue as the disc opens with a thunderous build up that would sound right at home on "Seasons In The Abyss". Such influences and almost nostalgic moments will instantly connect with fans of the genre and while the band do base this album around a standard metal formula that has been done many times before, they don't settle for being nostalgic and instead do their part to bring it up to modern speed with a number of crunch laden grooves and a fierce vocal performance.

"One Kill Wonder" is definitely a testament to the old adage "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it", but it is also a cunning display of taking the basis of something that was perfected long ago and only slightly tweaking it to meet one's current needs; Rather than trying to re-write history and summarily fuck everything up in the process. As such, "One Kill Wonder" is a brutal tour de force that will keep many of the bands existing fans happy and hopefully introduce them to a new crop altogether; And yet it's decided lack of evolution may also leave the same fans wondering about the groups longevity and ability to keep progressing in the long run.