California's Haunt tune in to the golden age of heavy metal

If the classic metal revival seemed short-lived, workmanlike and low on steam, it’s largely because the timelessly resonant magic of the source material has proved to be a mercurial beast, available to only a few.

One listen to Burst Into Flame, the debut album from Fresno, California’s Haunt due out on Shadow Kingdom Records on August 10, and you’ll immediately recognise a band for whom songwriting is a charm, redolent of a golden age but bridged effortlessly into the here and now. It may help that Haunt are the helmed by Beastmaker’s Trevor William Church, or that the nine songs herein seem to be yearning for the future more so than the past, but here you’ll find twin-lead harmonies borne weightlessly, songs that sound as embryonic as they do anthemic, and a continuity tapped into with effortless, unstudied grace.

For those who want an early dip, we have an exclusive preview in the irrepressible form of the inaptly titled Frozen In Time, a track whose chorus is so unforgettable it feel like it’s already imprinted in your DNA. And if its shunting, gilded groove might echo Ghost, or even The Devil’s Blood, that’s a sign of both the rarefied company they can call their peers, and the perennial joy their raw materials have packed into their core.

There is, of course, no time like the present, so roll your cursor over the image below and prepare to enter heavy metal heaven!

Visit Haunt's Facebook page here!

Having freelanced regularly for the Melody Maker and Kerrang!, and edited the extreme metal monthly, Terrorizer, for seven years, Jonathan is now the overseer of all the album and live reviews in Metal Hammer. Bemoans his obsolete superpower of being invisible to Routemaster bus conductors, finds men without sideburns slightly circumspect, and thinks songs that aren’t about Satan, swords or witches are a bit silly.