I can tell you right now, the 08 can sound plenty harsh depending on how you dial it in.
I agree; the Prophet '08 can be harsh
if you want it to be. But my point is that the wave forms themselves do not contain the partials that create the harshness (with the possible exception of a very narrow pulse). It generally has to be added to the sound by means of modulation or resonance.
One of the distinctive qualities of the Evolver's digital wave shapes is that many are top-heavy with partials and have moderately soft fundamentals. Hence, there isn't a predominantly recognizable pitch. They then serve more like timbres to be added to the analog wave forms. I've used these tones quite a bit, but they often leave me slightly cringing, sometimes even with an ear ache. I never get this effect from the Prophet '08.
There's no doubt that the digital harshness can be useful. Even tonal dissonance can be a means of applying an effective tension to a piece of music that propels it forward, in that the dissonance needs to be resolved. But, in my personal musical pursuits, harshness and dissonance must be controlled, or else they overwhelm beauty, which is a most delicate creature.
I don't think the standard analog wave forms have been sufficiently explored. There are many tones yet to be created by combining, for example, different pulse widths, as well as by combining multiple pitches of a triangle or sine wave. In other words, analog synthesis can be practiced with an additive synthesis method, thus blurring the lines between the two.
Pardon the self-promotion, but here is an example. This carillon patch sounds like a digital patch, but it was made by two Prophet '08s.
https://youtu.be/XYkS3LgRRqA?t=308