All officially licensed by Century Media and released in cooperation with Dan Swanö.
I feel Dan Swano is hard done by. For all of the brilliant solo work he's done, for all of his work with Bloodbath, Edge of Sanity and even his latest project Witherscape, he somehow escapes the recognition that he truly deserves, as one of the greatest driving creative forces in progressive metal. Hell, he's probably lesser known than most of his contemporaries in Bloodbath. Unfortunately, Edge of Sanity appear to have suffered from the same fate as their frontman, despite having put out three majestic albums in 'Crimson', 'Purgatory Afterglow' and 'The Spectral Sorrows', the last of which truly is Dan Swano's Magnum Opus.
This is an album of contrasts. As early as the opening title track and it's successor, the listener is exposed to crushing overdriven insanity with pounding off beat drumming and roaring, abrasive vocals - and then is caressed by beautiful mellow sections displaying expertly twinned lead harmonies punctuated by atmosphere-providing keyboards. While slower, these mellow sections sound no less evil than their faster counterparts, a sound consistent throughout the album; if I had to choose a word to describe the general feeling that this album elicits, it would be insanity. A perfect example of this might be the chorus of 'Livin' Hell', a sonic madhouse of tremolo picking and blast beating with backing vocals akin to cries echoing through the halls of a lunatic asylum. But guess what? Even during this mental song, the pace is dropped, harmonies materialize and the keyboards come further forward in the production, resulting in a slow section that combines both hopeless minor sections, and even an uplifting, major riff. More examples? Skip one song ahead, to 'Lost'. The verses alternate between sadness and anger, emotions that suggest that a jazzy acoustic break might be out of place; then it happens, at 1.19. These are just a few examples of many, as almost every track on this album displays these wonderful contrasts while staying consistent to the general sound and theme of the album (the most notable other than the examples given being 'Jesus Cries' and 'Across the Fields of Forever').
Dan Swano's vocals are excellent throughout this album, mostly in the form of his rich, deep growl that still packs enough punch to exaggerate the insane feel to the album. There are moments on this album when his growls sound immensely powerful, such as the slower chugging sections of 'Livin' Hell' and 'Waiting to Die'. These are slightly offset by the much weaker vocals of Andreas Axelsson, who when contributing more than just backing vocals sounds rubbish, resulting in 'Feeding the Charlatan' probably being the weakest song on the album. Swano also uses clean vocals on this album, on 'Sacrificed' and the Manowar cover 'Blood of my Enemies'. His clean vocals sound, well, like a clean version of his harsh vocals - rich and deep, with a slight rough edge.
I feel that Edge of Sanity did 'Blood of my Enemies' justice in this cover. Swano really excels during the chorus as he strains for slightly higher notes. Spoken vocals are also used during the verse of 'Across the Fields of Forever', which kind of make me feel like he's telling a heroic, yet saddening tale, akin to one of Homer's epics. This works brilliantly, as 'Across the Fields of Forever' is one of the best tracks on the album, combining acoustic guitar, twin overdriven guitars and spoken vocals, held together by an awesome snare beat out of Benny Larsson during the verses, and a simple but epic chorus.
Another song that deserves special mention is 'Jesus Cries'. Not only is the title of the song a tribute to Swano's lyrical dexterity, the number of musical styles used in this song is astounding. From the opening harmonies, to the progressive/death metal bulk of the song, to the almost pop - rock riff beginning at 3.20, all seamlessly woven together, finished by the disturbing screams of Jesus's crucifixion. This is another of the stand out songs on this album.
The guitars on this album play an almost solely rhythmic role; there is very little soloing or guitar trickery used throughout. However, a wide range of techniques are used in the riffing, from tremolo picking to huge palm muted sections that challenge the listener not to turn the volume up to max and break things. For all modern metal bands - if you want an idea of how to write a 'breakdown' that you can use in your songs, see 2.19 of 'Waiting to Die'. This is the exact reason why we don't start on our lowest string - so we have something to go down to. The tremolo sections are no less notable - the riffing in 'Dark Day', 'Livin' Hell' and 'The Masque' in particular is exquisite. There are also many simple chord progressions used in the chorus of songs, which contrasts with the far more technical riffing of the verses. Finally, in the slower sections found on most of the songs in this album, twin harmonies are used, beautifully written and executed and in perfect balance with the keyboards, which take a back seat during this album.
Furthermore, Benny Larsson does a great job on drums. There's one technique he uses which I particularly love, which can be found at 3.01 of 'Across the Field of Forever' and during the verses of 'Waiting to Die', where he couples the hi-hat and the crash, making a change from the double bass porn heard in so many death metal bands. He almost makes good use of blast bleats, generally over tremolo sections, adding to the mad feeling of the album, but they aren't overused. I feel that the general use and sound of the drums on this album are very passive - they act as a glue holding the songs together. The snare is tight, and is very changeable throughout this album. It sounds great during 'Lost', but completely different during 'Dark Day', during which it changes sound every hit. I can see how this may annoy some listeners, but I rather like the raw sound that it brings to the album.
In conclusion, this is a fantastic album that is vastly under-appreciated. There is very little wrong with it, bar the poor backing vocals, and I would truly recommend giving it a chance - you might just enjoy it as much as I did.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=ghwyQh4NkRw&list=PLlTSqF66IqjUFzX8snPfJjzx9RPpFqiyw
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=YtPKy-g4-Vo&list=PLlTSqF66IqjUFzX8snPfJjzx9RPpFqiyw&index=5
