PROGRESSIVE

Edited 10/04/05!

Don't get fooled by the title of this record. This mini CD which was more a kind of demo of them can actually not be compared with their later stuff. HAGGARD was a four-man band at this time without orchestra and they were still playing plain (admittedly good) Death Metal, maybe similar to THERION'S "Lapaca Kliffoth". In fact the development of these two bands were a bit similar as well, although they sound quite different from each other nowadays. This short album did not contain bad stuff at all , vocals are quite grunting of course, but the songs are well played and it doesn't sound like any unknown Death Metal band just "coming out of the forest". Nevertheless I would recommend it only to completionists or fans of Death or Black Metal. Therefore my 1 star rating!

This demo from Haggard is totally different from the albums this band has released. This is death metal.

Don't be fooled by the title. This is not anywhere progressive. Not even in 1993 and not today. Death metal with some references to the band Death and with some guitar parts with pretty standard black metal tremelo picking. Add some references to Pestilence too and this is the end product. The death metal is slow to mid-tempo with a lot of reference to old doom metal and today's sludge metal.

The quality is pretty abysmal. It was pretty abysmal in 1993 and it is still abysmal. There is nothing here which I find interesting or good. The band is even warning people not to buy this demo (now released as a mini CD) from their own webshop and I can understand why. This demo is not kind to their reputation. I fully agree with Haggard's own warning to their fans.

1 star

Don't get fooled by what other people think about this album. I don't need to have a privileged hearing to realize that this IS progressive metal, more progressive than other supposedly progressive bands like Opeth; in fact, this is REAL progressive death metal. It is a smart and outstanding attempt to do what few bands at the moment were doing (e. g. Cynic): fuse speed and death metal in a progressive and melodic melting-pot, crowned with lyrical content that is even better (for it is coherent and very critical) than that of the band's following albums (yes, the fact the other albums have some latin gibberish included doesn't make them outstanding). The production is dark and murky, which fits the underground context in which the album was conceived. The music is eclectic and experimental, musically offering a wide range of influences from classical tremolo riffing to experimental arabic/persian soloing. There are many tempo changes throughout the songs, always accompanied by an intuitive drumming. The overall product is extremely pleasing for any REAL progressive death metal fans. It is complex, technical, almost avant-garde metal music born from a real impetus to create something powerful. This album is the proof that Haggard didn't need 15+ members to produce outstanding music.