siLLy puPPy After the Aslan demo and name change to PSYCHOTIC WALTZ, the band released their first demo under the new moniker, which came from a friend describing some of the music as a type of “PSYCHOTIC WALTZ”. As the band was already proficient in their new progressive rock sound from the very start, what we get here are four tracks that are already developed for prime time and the fact is that all four tracks would appear on the band’s debut album “A Social Grace” which would grace progressive metal lovers the following year.

The music on this demo showed the band going in a heavier direction with less acoustic guitar passages and hardly any electronic freakout frenzies. As went the heaviness, so did the progressiveness with challenging time sigs, tempos, double tracking and head banging construction. This demo caught the attention of German magazines and ultimately led to the band releasing their independently financed debut album with a licensing deal from the German label Rising Sun Productions.

Unlike the Aslan demo, i find this demo to be a tad underwhelming simply because the production is still of substandard quality and none of these tracks are rare and interesting prototypes of the band. A nice little demo and all but so unimportant it is that even the band found no need to release them as bonus tracks on any of the reissues of their four classic albums however you can find them on the “Live & Archives” compilation.