Heavy metal heroes Haunt wasted no time building off the momentum of 2019’s If Icarus Could Fly with 2020 opus Mind Freeze. Taking a wintry, frigid theme, the California act led by Trevor Church added some new elements into their sound, including some synth work and structures that could pass as power metal. 

Haunt continues to excel with diligent riff work and Church’s desperate vocal delivery has improved considerably. They work at such an immaculate pace that another full-length, Flashback, was dropped during the summer. Flashback is no slouch either, but Mind Freeze stands as a hallmark of traditional metal and should immediately be in any trad metal fan’s collection.

Scribe Nick Balazs praised Mind Freeze in his review: Church also seems much more comfortable as a singer and uses adept melody that leads to some enriching vocal moments. While that traditional metal element is still strongly on display, there is some gravitations toward power metal as well, like on the surging “Divide And Conquer” (with an incredible tempo change in the middle) and the speeding and fist-thrusting “Hearts On Fire” (although it’s hard not to think of the HammerFall song when listening to this). The most impressive part of Haunt though is developing sturdy, melodic, memorable guitar parts and the guitar tandem of Church and John Tucker is a marvel to listen to. There has always been a melancholic vibe to Haunt, and this is in due part to the desperate vocals of Church, but there is this sense of heroism and wonder and this is enveloped in opener “Light The Beacon”, which shows a glimmer of hope with tributes to those that have fallen, and also “On The Stage”, a song that says exactly what it is, an ode to performing on the stage and bringing joy to the metal masses.

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