Italy’s HAUNTED Return with New Album: Witness New Music Video “Catamorph”

I still remember getting a shipment of vinyl from Twin Earth Records to sell at the inaugural Doomed & Stoned Festival in 2016, and among the haul was the self-titled debut LP by HAUNTED. At the time, they seemed like Italy’s answer to Windhand, which was at the peak of its popularity, and I was quite excited about what they had to bring to the table.

Two years later came the excellent ‘Dayburner’ (2018), then the band went into the shadows for six years. Little did I know they had signed to Ripple Music for a third album, 'Stare At Nothing’ (2024), which sees the light of day after the big thaw this spring. Today, Doomed & Stoned is giving you a look at the band in action, as we view the music video of their first single, “Catamorph.”

Dank, surly low-end from bassist Frank Tudisco and bluesy doom riffage from guitarist Kim Crowley join thundering drums from Luca Strano, that seems to conjure the ebb and flow of the sea. This contrasts powerfully with Cristina Chimirri’s sublime vocals and gorgeous melodic lines on the new spin, which is a monument to the exquisite emotional expressiveness and statuesque might of doom metal. A beautiful record, through and through.

Look for Haunted’s Stare At Nothing coming out on vinyl, compact disc, and digital format on April 19th (pre-order here).

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

The conceptual gestation of the album 'Stare At Nothing’ has deep roots. The seeds are study, listening and experience. HAUNTED have tried to tell their journey of self-awareness, of reunion, of pacification, of ideological freedom, of recognition of the Self and its complete destruction.

They didn’t want to create nothing, and so they just stared at it. In the lyrics they talk about what they saw: the Man who chooses, who sees and accepts himself, who doesn’t come to terms with the Universe, with a God, with the Infinite, but only with himself – through a reverse mystical journey.

The compositional climax took place on the Summer Equinox of 2023. Hired Kim Crowley on guitar and Luca Strano on drums, they lowered themselves headlong, sinking into the dark cavities of the ground.

Their music then had to be vibrant, magnetic, deep, dark and powerful. They relied on the darker shades of heavy rock and the furious poetry of grunge, composing sharp rhythms on evocative metrics.