In a new interview with J.J. Caithcart of Different Stages Radio, guitarist Patrik Jensen of Swedish thrash metal pioneers THE HAUNTED spoke about the band’s upcoming tenth studio album, “Songs Of Last Resort”, which will arrive on May 30 via longtime partners Century Media Records. Asked why it has taken so long for him and his bandmates to release the follow-up to 2017’s “Strength In Numbers”, Patrik said: “We’ve never taken a break. We’ve always been wanting to write the next album. Ola (Englund, THE HAUNTED guitarist) has always had new material, ’cause he has his YouTube channel. He demos stuff all the time and he has to write stuff every week. Jonas (Björler, THE HAUNTED bassist) was feeling burnt out from writing two AT THE GATES albums on his own. His twin brother wasn’t in (AT THE GATES at the time). Anders is back (in AT THE GATES) now. But, yeah, so (Jonas) was burnt out from that.

“See, when THE HAUNTED started out, we were rehearsing band,” Patrik explained. “We were a rehearsing band for much longer than the other of our Gothenburg peers. So that’s how we write our music. The kind of thrash that we play, it kind of leans forward, and it needs that live feel to it to make it feel appropriate to the genre. But after we changed a lot of members in 2012, we all live in different cities — all of us. Even different countries, as our drummer Adrian (Erlandsson) lives in London since ’99 when he left THE HAUNTED to join CRADLE OF FILTH.

“But yeah, so after ‘Strength In Numbers’, I felt that… It feels a bit stiff. I wanted the next album to sound more like THE HAUNTED did back in the day. And I didn’t know that what I had on my computer, the tools I had, the guitar plugins (were) holding me back. But to try to get things moving, I booked a studio here in my hometown. We flew Adrian over, so just him and me, we were gonna have six days in the studio and write songs. I had a bunch of ideas. We were gonna make a fair amount of songs here. So we had everything set up. We went back to my place. He was crashing on my couch. We were gonna start fresh the following day. Adrian comes down with a tummy bug and he’s wiped out for three days. And then, on day three, of course I get it, ’cause that’s how tummy bugs work. So I was still sick when he had to go back and pack everything up and get on his plane home. So not one single minute came out of that, that whole thing. So that was a bummer. That was 2021. We also had the pandemic in between there. But in 2018 I started working as leading a guitar team at a company that makes guitar plugins. So, in March last year, we put out a high-gain guitar plugin, the ENGL Savage. And when I played that, I realized that this sounds just like I’m sitting in the rehearsal space. That’s where I grew up. Ola, he’s a few years younger than the rest of us, so he’s used to playing everything in the computer; that’s how he’s always done it. But all of a sudden it felt like home. I could get everything out of my right hand that I want. So between March last year and the end of summer — so what is that, six months? — I had written 11 songs for this album. I had no idea I was so held back by the tools I had at my disposal. So all of a sudden I had songs, Ola has always had songs. I told the other guys, ‘Okay, we’re gonna record this in November.’ I found a studio, the studio that I’ve learned to know through the work I do with THE HALO EFFECT. And, of course, they were happy, but they were skeptical. With so many years and nothing happening, they were, like, ‘Are we really gonna be ready?’ ‘Yeah, man, we’re gonna be ready.’ And eventually, Jonas got going too. And, yeah, we entered the studio and this thing came out.”

Regarding how “Songs Of Last Resort” turned out, Jensen said: “You’re always happy about a new album, but we didn’t know. We think it’s a really good album. We didn’t know when we entered the studio that it was gonna be more than a new album, if that makes sense. But when things started to get added, the beginning of the mix, when we started to hear the songs with vocals and solos, we were, like, in our chat group, ‘This sounds really good.’ Everyone was chiming in. So maybe it was worth the wait, but, yeah, we never intended it for to be eight years. Now we’re back on track. I’ve already started to write for the next album, ’cause it’s just so easy. I say ‘easy’ — it is work, but I don’t feel held back anymore.”

According to Patrik, the reception to the LP’s first two singles, “Warhead” and “In Fire Reborn”, has been “very good. As a band, because it’s been eight years, we were curious if people even remember us,” he said. “So we’ve, or at least I have, read the comments (from people online). I know a few other guys (in the band) have too. People are very happy about the songs. We are very happy about them, of course, but there’s a lot of great comments. And we’ve never had the numbers of views on YouTube increase so fast that we have with these two songs. And friends have texted me, people I know all around the world, and some of the nicest or the best compliments I’ve ever gotten is that people say that it feels like coming home. And I understand what they mean.

“When I grew up, I listened to KISS,” Patrik explained. “No one else listened to KISS in my class, when you’re, whatever, 12. And then one summer into seventh grade or eighth grade, I show up for school and everyone has JUDAS PRIEST patches and SAXON and, whatever, Ozzy (Osbourne). And so I just dove headfirst into that. It was great. And I thought, ‘Oh, KISS is just old bag. I don’t care about them anymore.’ Then on TV, I saw a live video of ‘Love Gun’, and I was, like, ‘Ah, this is the band I cared so much about.’ And that made me feel like coming home again. So I know exactly what people mean by that, and that is the best compliment I’ve ever gotten, I think. Like, ‘Oh, yeah. I cared so much about this band, and they’re back.’ It means a lot.”