Hailed by many as their best release, 'The fighting man' was a huge progression after the previous releases and set the style Forefather is known for. Their ability to create their trademark hymnic melodies took a huge step and the epic melodies that will remain stuck in your head are well represented in songs like 'For these shores'. The album pioneered with its well written compositions; alternating between fast, energetic riffs with lots of folk melodies and mid-tempo atmospheric black metal with clean vocals almost sounding chanted at times popping up frequently, to a very dynamic whole.