Over the past few years, Haunt has become one of the leading names of the so called NWOTHM (New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal) movement. Next to Night Demon, they may be the biggest name in the scene. Releasing albums annually and touring relentlessly has certainly helped.
Mind Freeze sees Haunt going between two styles. On tracks such as “Hearts on Fire”, “Divide and Conquer”, and “On the Stage”, Haunt goes full blown speed metal with a bevy of riffs bound to get crowds pumping their fists. It may shock people that on other tracks such as “Saviors of Man” and the title track, Haunt slows it down with a melodic hard rock/AOR approach. It’s these songs which stand head and shoulders above the rest of the album. The synthesizers serve more for creating atmosphere than sharing the stage with the guitars. The end result is an Abominog era Uriah Heep vibe which is very enjoyable.
Like their previous releases, Haunt has delivered a very good, 80s-esque metal album. However, there’s something that holds them back from being great. Perhaps I feel there are NWOTHM bands out there “doing it better”. While there’s certainly Haunt songs I can call “great”, I wouldn’t go so far as to label an album as such. Here’s to hoping one day I will.
6 out of 10
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of : Angel Witch, Night Demon, Abominog era Uriah Heep
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