UMUR
"Made Me Do It" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act The Haunted. The album was released through Earache Records in October 2000. There´s been a couple of lineup changes since the self-titled debut as lead vocalist Peter Dolving has been replaced by Marco Aro, and Adrian Erlandsson has been replaced by Danish drummer Per M. Jensen (Invocator, Artillery).
Stylistically the music on "Made Me Do It" more or less continues down the same path as on the self-titled debut. That means aggressive thrash metal with occasional melodic death metal traits. Slayer is the most obvious influence, but there are naturally also some traces in the music of the Björler brother´s former act At The Gates. The change on the lead vocalist spot isn´t that obvious as Peter Dolving and Marco Aro at that point had a relatively similar vocal style. Distorted and aggressive raw singing that occasionally touches semi-growling territory. Aro also experiements with clean (well...effect laden) vocals on "Hollow Ground" and succeeds in doing so.
"Hollow Ground" is as a result one of the standout tracks on the album, but tracks like "Bury Your Dead" and "Leech" could also be mentioned among the highlights. All material on the 11 track (the Japanese version features a bonus track), 36:09 minutes long album are of a high quality though and "Made Me Do It" is overall a consistent quality release. It´s relatively varied too with both fast-paced thrashers, and more mid-paced heavy tracks. A few tracks even feature some atmospheric moments.
Another great asset is the skillful delivery of the music. While everything is delivered with militant precision there´s also a great organic touch to the playing, which provides the material with an important human touch. That is further enhanced by a raw, powerful, and organic sounding production, which suits the music perfectly. So upon conclusion "Made Me Do It" is a quality sophomore studio album by The Haunted, that isn´t terribly different in sound and style to their debut album, but which still comes off as more developed and catchy. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.