UNORTHODOX

One of the greatest Swedish metal outfits of all time, Edge of Sanity is a legendary band with some legendary albums to boot. Although most may know them best from their forty minute epic 'Crimson' and their more progressive work, Edge of Sanity was also instrumental in bringing that heavier edge of melodic death metal. Frontman and band mastermind Dan Swano has called their second album 'Unorthodox' his favourite album by the band, even going as far as to call it 'perfect'. While I would be much more moderate in my pleasant feelings towards this album, it is quite a great album, especially for its time. In the period where death metal was finally getting on its own two feet as an artistic form, 'Unorthodox' was a great omen for even more ambitious things to come in the future.

1992 was a year where bands like Death and Athiest were making excellent albums, but across the Atlantic ocean in Scandinavia, the metal scene knew this area mostly for their contributions to black metal. Edge Of Sanity was a great band to take the sound of extreme metal towards the heavier, downtuned death metal sound in Sweden, and even from this second album, it is clear that Edge of sanity were pursuing some surprisingly progressive trends in their music. 'Enigma' opens with an eerie violin lick, before going into volcanic death metal that is full of blastbeats and melodic, yet heavy and dark guitar parts. Dan Swano's growls are also very powerful here, and while not being everyone's taste, his delivery is very good for death metal, and its noticeably easier to make out what he's actually saying than the average growler.

Furthering the progressive trend on this album are unconventional song structures, and even an acoustic interlude towards the end of the album. All the same, 'Unorthodox' is a death metal album before anything else, and while it lacks the precision or polish that alot of modern death metal has, its bite shouldn't be underestimated. 'Unorthodox' is a great album from a great band, and while my enjoyment of the album and its at-times rough edge keeps me from calling it a masterpiece of the genre, it is a classic, for what it is.

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