A Dream Vision Vanished

One year after being born in the most metal country there is, Sweden's melodic black metal band Haimad recorded a 4 track demo that stands out from a lot from any other underground melodic metal releases from the 90s, in a good way, of course.

Although the cover might make you think it's just another raw black metal tape with terrible production, it is really far from being that. We first get introduced by an intro that progressively gets faster, letting you know that the actual demo is not so far away. Then, the vocalist's shrieking marks the start of the actual piece. We notice that whoever wrote the songs is no softy, the lead guitar riffs are fast and triumphant, contrasting in a good way with the eerie-sounding symphonic-like keyboards and fitting very well with the rock'n roll beats being played by the drummer. We also can't forget about the vocalist, because thanks to his distant-sounding screams, he sounds fitting with the sinister yet epic mood this work creates. You may figure out we need some rest after all those fast melodies, and yes, the breakdowns are there in some tracks, usually being that every instrument stops for a second to let the guitar shine, and slowly progresses to a bridge to finally end up with a pedal-to-the-metal fast-sounding verse and ending the song.

Also, as with almost every other demo, this was released independently and with no "studio tricks" of any sort. Everything sounds so raw and natural that I feel obligated to give it more points because of this. But this situation has its downs too. First, the gear used doesn't sound very expensive, and the rhythm guitar is a good example of this. The distortion sounds a bit exaggerated, almost making it so you can't hear the notes being played by the guitar very well, and also seems to want to go on with the chords being played by the keyboard, but due to the volume mixing, it doesn't catch your ear because of how low it sounds. Something also worth adding is that, during the most moved parts of the demo, every sound starts overlapping the other and ends up rather confusing.

To summarize everything told; the eerie yet epic mood, the lead guitar's catchy riffing, the screams, and the little to non-existent production... all of this combined makes way for a really interesting demo, despite the mixing problems, and leaving the rhythm guitar aside. I would've loved to hear these songs in a full album, but oh well, this is what we have and we better keep it, since it's not any unoriginal work by any means.