The Haunted

Spawned from the remains of At the Gates — which is perhaps the most influential thrash-metal band in Swedish history — The Haunted came out screaming in 1998 with a self-titled debut that stripped ATG's melancholy thrash to its most dangerous, pummeling essentials. From there, however, things become more complicated: Thanks in part to a revolving-door lineup and the varying influences those changes introduced, the Haunted has spent every recording since trying to progress against the wishes of fans and critics who just can't get past its first album. Tough luck for them, then, that the band's latest, The Dead Eye, veers from Pink Floyd-esque psychedelia ("The Cynic") to Deftones-style atmospheric rock, with pinches of thrash thrown in for sentimental value. Strangely enough, it works — even if some purists would add "...against the band" to that sentiment.