Live Review: The Haunted - Manchester

Live Review: The Haunted – Rebellion, Manchester

9th October 2026
Support: Red Method
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Rich Price

With only three shows scheduled for British soil this autumn, the Rebellion Bar was the only venue to be at in Manchester tonight for the long-awaited return of Swedish melodic-death thrashers, The Haunted. Less than twelve-months on from the triumphant show over at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre for the twentieth anniversary Damnation show, and with their Songs of Last Resort record still getting regular spins round our way, I cannot imagine a place I’d rather be tonight.

It’s an early start for London’s Red Method, a collective formed from Meta-Stasis, Ted Maul and The Defiled, and bringing a piece of each for a blend of industrial, electronic and gothic nu-metal. As a crowd we are admittedly a bit sparse at such an hour, but the band push on and never let their energy drop. An early circle pit should be commended for the intent if nothing else, and as time goes on the crowd increases and Red Method show why they were headlining the second stage at the Bloodstock Winter Gathering last year. Detonate, from July’s Vol 1: As In Life EP, is fast, heavy and edgy and has more of a modern metal sound in keeping with a Slipknot than the band’s earlier material; Counting Corpses comes with some serious drumming and has a dalliance with the hey-day of the Nu-wave. From a stage bathed in scarlet light – which I’m reliably informed is a nightmare to photograph – Red Method close their set with a health-sized crowd and having made new friends along the way.

I think I’d almost forgotten how much I love The Haunted. Damnation was great, of course, but the Swedes were one part of a magnificent main stage that included Onslaught, Primordial, Pig Destroyer, Anaal Nathrakh, AmenRa and Napalm Death. Joy overload was outcome of that day. Here, at Rebellion, The Haunted have ninety minutes to impress and, boy, do they ever…

This being the Songs of Last Resort tour it’s only fair that the new record gets a whole load of play. Opening duo, Warhead and In Fire Reborn, kicks off the set in a brash and confrontational style. Patrik Jensen’s fingers seem to have mind of their own as they dash about the fretboard; vocalist Marco Aro has a big, beaming smile that belies the aggression of the music. The off-kilter guitar intro to 99 is recreated perfectly and attracts the first surfer of the evening; Trespass is mis-introduced as being the tune that got Marco into the band in the first place; apparently it wasn’t, as he sang it, but it’s still a great song anyway.

The Dead Eye’s intro leads into The Flood and the glorious The Medication; One Kill Wonder’s D.O.A. sees perpetual movement across the room, leading Marco to enquire about crowd safety. Things slow down for some “middle-aged shit” and, as The Haunted are groovy themselves, we get the groove-laden Time (Will Not Heal) from the often criminally overlooked Exit Wounds album.

Eight years in the making so it’s fair that Songs of Last Resort gets the lion’s share and the awesomely titled Hell is Wasted on the Dead snarls and snaps as Adrian Erlandsson goes to town on the drums; time, not only will not heal, but hasn’t mellowed the members of The Haunted either. To Bleed Out is pure At the Gates in its catchiness. Marco also endears himself even more by saying how much better than London last night Manchester is.

Crowd surfer and stage divers are plentiful and Marco can be seen giving folks a hand up onto his stage. On chap fires back into the crowd like he’s been shot from a canon, another looks to have gone down head-first, but a thumbs-up suggests he’s alright (for the time being at least – somebody please watch that man for signs of a concussion!)

The track Marco meant when he introduced Trespass was In Vein, which arrives after a particularly bouncy No Compromise; the final song of last resort is a stomping Death to the Crown; the first song

the band ever wrote, Undead, is full of youthful ire, Hollow Ground flips things by about one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, with it’s unbelievable catchy rhythms.

Made Me Do It intro, Dark Intentions mean only one thing: Bury Your Dead, as rambunctious and face-ripping a song as you’re likely to hear, and the main set closes with Hate Song.

Rather than leave, it’s announced the band have eight-and-a-half-minutes left, just enough time for All Against All and a closing Bullet Hole.

Seven of The Haunted’s ten albums are visited tonight; only Strength in Numbers from the Marco-era and Verses and Unseen aren’t represented. But, when you have a catalogue as richly deep as they have, there are always going to be difficult choices. I would like to have heard My Shadow and Collateral Carnage, but it wasn’t to be. Maybe next time.

Rebellion should have been packed to the rafters for this show, but I imagine Amon Amarth at the Apollo might have drawn some people’s attention away. For those of who were there, this was a show for the ages.