THE HAUNTED – Roadkill DVD

by Ray Deleon

Spawned from the breakup of At the Gates, The Haunted has continued on over the past decade to help create what has been described as the “Gothenburg Sound.” Today this is the most imitated sound in all of metal. An infinite amount of bands, from all genres of metal, have cited this sound as a major influence in their music. With this much credit and admiration, one might figure that The Haunted have reached the upper echelon of the heavy metal world, but this is simply not the case. The lives of the Bjorler twins, Peter Dolving, Patrik Jensen, and Per Moller Jensen aren’t filled with glitz and drugs and promiscuous women. No. They are filled with exploding toilets and boredom and filthy crotches. Don’t take my word for it, watch their newest Roadkill DVD/CD and find out from the band what life is truly like on the road.

Roadkill begins with an hour long documentary of The Haunted. This insightful, honest, and grim look into world of a touring heavy metal band covers every angles from their history to shitty food they are forced to eat to the absence of hygiene to the endless hours of downtime to interviewers asking the same questions 5,000 times to all of the problems that come with living in such close quarters with eccentric musicians. The footage and interviews are from everyone involved with the band. There are also interviews from various musicians that can testify that these mishaps and horror stories do not just plaque one band. They consume every band. The amount of hassle they go through just to get on stage is beyond preposterous. If anything, the documentary will definitely make you think twice about trying to make it as a musician. The last part covers Ozzfest. It gives the viewer an inside look of what it’s like to play death metal at nine in the mourning when it’s 100 degrees outside or during the middle of a hurricane. Despite the overwhelming agony, the show must go on.

The live performance of the DVD was filmed at Melkweg in Amsterdam during 2009. If you haven’t seen The Haunted live, then you have yet to be entertained, not only by the band’s impressive show, but also by Dolving’s lunatic antics and informative speeches. It’s a must have for all of their fans and the accompanying cd has more live tracks covering their earlier material plus bonus studio tracks that could have easily been put on the Versus album. To cap it all off, there are also a handful of promo videos for your viewing pleasure.

The lesson learned here is to never join a band. Go to community college for twelve years or work for a retail store the rest of your life. Do anything society tells you to do. Well, this is of course sarcasm because life should not be lived this way in the slightest. No. Pick up your guitar or bass or drum sticks and play the hell out of it until your dreams become a reality. Before you do that, make sure and do yourself a favor and watch Roadkill. The road is not for the weak hearted and this DVD proves it. And if you are lucky enough to become a part of a band that people actually want to see and survive touring, you will have a great view of the carcasses piling up on the side of the road as you drive by in an air conditioned bus.