CRIMSON

Edge of Sanity,hailing from Sweden,is one of the bands headed by musical genius Dan Swano.Crimson is a masterpiece,the whole album is one long song that clocks in at a hefty 40 minutes and never once shirks on quality.This album will weave it's spell on you from the beginning.It's wonderfully structured,telling the story of a dark,alien society and its struggles with an evil queen and morbid energies.It's full of riff after great riff and alternates between nice acoustic passages,very heavy,ominous ones and complex speed riffs combined with the subtle use of keyboards.Some of the sections repeat throughout the album,which gives recognizable motifs between the unique,singularly occurring passages,giving the whole album clarity and cohesion.Every part of this album is necessary and perfect,and every vocal line is delivered with the wonderful alternating growls and clean singing of Swano.The band plays perfectly,and Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth fame makes a guest appearance,contributing some vocals and lead guitar. One of the best progressive death metal albums ever recorded,and a must have for progressive metal fans.I don't give albums 5 stars often,but to give this album any less would be a crime.5 stars.

An absolutely classic death metal record! Edge of Sanity, "Crimson" is a masterpiece of music and one of the best highlights of the whole melodic death metal scene in Sweden and the surrounding Scandinavian countries. "Crimson" is a 40 minute epic tune that is full off savage riffery, death grunt vocals and a mixture of different themes.

I am a diehard progger, yet even I find it difficult to listen to a song over 30 minutes long. Dream Theater's "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", Fantomas "Delirium Cordia", Mike Oldfields "Tubular Bells" and Green Carnations "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" are all good examples of challenging 30+ minute epic prog tunes. They are good but difficult to dig into. "Crimson" however is one proggy adventure that I find easy to listen to over and over again and it wasn't really a struggle to take it all in. This epic project seems to be pretty much free of filler, boring passages and repetition. I am always excited by what I am hearing.

"Crimson" was written by Dan Swano in the bulk, and his bleak vocals and lyrics tell as epic a tale as the music on this album does. Our old prog metal friend, Mikael Akerfeldt appears on this album to provide some clean vocals, guitar and even a piano solo. At this time Dan Swano and Mikael Akerfeldt were used to working together as Dan Swano had produced Opeth's first two albums, "Orchid" and "Morningrise". If anyone has heard those album then they will recognise an similar production and atmosphere on "Crimson" to those albums.

"Crimson" is mostly built up of melodic death metal that seems to favour some quite bulky and chuggy riffs often propelled by blastbeating drums, though there is a good mixture between different tempo's to make sure this piece isn't too nausiating. There are occasionaly mythological and folksy influences in the lyrics and themes of this album. One of the best riffs on the album is the famous galloping medieval style riff that first comes in around a third of the way through the album.

This is a true epic and one i would gladly label prog metal. It kicks in straight away and keeps the listening hooked on through the whole thing. I highly recommend this to any Opeth and Katatonia fan on the site, as well as those fans of the scandinavian metal scene as this is one of the best albums to be produced from that side of europe.

I absolutely love this album, however, it really doesn't fit in a progressive music site. Is it progressive? To a degree yes. I'd say its more death metal, melodic metal, with progressive overtones and tendencies. Progressive is definitely not the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this, but there is some great music there.

I actually like this album than other albums I would rate 5 stars, however, given the context of the site, this is not essential for progressive music, more like essential for any fan of death metal.

The album is ambitious, highly entertaining, and very well done by Swano. As said, any fan of the Swedish metal scene should pick this up. It has some nice progressive concepts here and there, and its very interesting, however this is not a masterpiece necessary for all listeners of progressive music. It is a masterpiece in its own regards, and definitely Swano's greatest release.

4.5 rating here. A must have for anyone who likes the heavier side of music.

A small classic in Prog metal, but a big one in the Death metal genre, Edge of Sanity's Crimson is one 40 minutes long song which has just about everything a metal fan could ask for. hey, even Mickael Akerfeld is present! And to make this an extra special song, the whole piece stands tall and proud all the way threw, having few if any fillers. impressive Mr. Swano! Now, having said that, this might not be the masterpiece it's made out to be, as there aren't many moments that really stand out from the rest, the whole thing seems to be good all the time. but I tell you, I want some "Holy crap, this is freakin awesome" parts if you know what I'm saying. and they seem to lack a bit here. But still, the result is great, and I'm pretty sure many will not agree with me on this last observation of mine.

As I said before this is quite the classic in the Death metal department, first of all, ´cause Edge of Sanity, along with Opeth, must be the biggest, best and most successful Melodic Death metal band ever, and second ´cause Crimson is the absolute peak of Dan Swano´s career. well, at least with Edge of Sanity. It seems to me Swano wanted to really stand out from the rest of his pears, and man did he! It's not usual for metal to have a 40 minutes long song in their catalog; it is for prog, but not for metal. With that in mind there is also one thing you should know: although there is a progressive tendency threw out the record (for heavens sake, this is a 40 minutes long song, how is that not prog?) . I would say this is rather prog-related than actual Prog, for it is, mostly, a very long metal song. In fact I don't think there are any actual prog moments, any kind of riff, solo or variation that you can clearly point out and say, without a doubt, "This is prog right here!", what makes this prog is, ones again, the fact that it is so long, and the way it is presented to us, as riffs, passages, and vocal lines come and go, appear again, sometimes a bit modify, which by the way is brilliantly done, but more than that. there is no prog in here.

To summon things up, if you are into metal and don't mind long compositions, this is for you. If you like Opeth, listen to this, you will like it, no doubt about it. but if you are not really that much into metal but want to find some prog here. mmm, this might not be the place for you.

"Crimson" is the 5th full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Edge of Sanity. The album was released through Black Mark Production in April 1996. "Crimson" is quite a unique album (at least for it´s time) as it solely consists of one 40 minutes long sci-fi/fantasy themed track. It also marks a change in the band´s songwriting dynamics as "Crimson" is more or less lead vocalist Dan Swanö´s project. On all preceding releases songwriting credits were more evenly distributed, but "Crimson" was solely written by Swanö, who also performs rhythm guitars and harmony guitars, clean and acoustic guitars, and keyboards, in addition to growling- and clean vocals. The rest of the band also performs on the album, but everything sounds strictly orchestrated by Swanö. Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth performs session guitar leads and vocals (the occasional raw blackened vocals on the album).

Stylistically the music on the album concludes the transformation from an old school Swedish death metal act to a full blown progressive death metal act, that the band initiated on "Enigma" from "Unorthodox (1992)". "Crimson" is the peak of Edge of Sanity´s stylistic development and to my ears also the peak of their recording career. While the music on "Crimson" is still in some ways at it´s core old school Swedish death metal, it far transcends what is usual for the genre, by incorporating both progressive rock, goth rock, and black metal elements. A contemporary artist like Opeth is a valid reference although at this point Opeth were only in the early stages of their career, and not at all as prolific or as influential as they would later become. So when "Crimson" was released, it was quite a unique sounding release.

Edge of Sanity successfully combine the various stylistic elements and the listener is caried through the album´s many brutal, melancholic, epic, tranquil, and adventurous sections with a seamless ease. "Crimson" is a dynamic release and one moment you´ll be exposed to death metal brutality and growling vocals, or blackened coldness with raspy screaming vocals, and the next a mellow beautiful section with clean vocals. While there are many sections featured on the track, and the structure is relatively complex, it´s actually reasonably easy to follow, and many sections are repeated or tweaked a bit and occur again during the track, so there is a high recognisability factor throughout the composition. Structure wise I´m reminded of a progressive rock classic like "Thick as a Brick (1972)" by Jethro Tull, which also consists of one album long track, featuring reoccurring themes. Knowing Swanö´s appreciation for classic progressive rock, it wouldn´t be a surprise, if he took some inspiration from that particular release.

The musicianship is as usual on a high level. While everything is certainly delivered with the needed skill and precision, there is a charming organic touch to the delivery, which works really well with the material. The instrumental part of the album is delivered with passion and conviction, but it´s the vocal part of the album, which takes the prize. Swanö´s growling vocals are distinct sounding and intelligible and his clean vocals are strong and pleasant (his harmony and choir vocals are also quality work). Åkerfeldt also deliveres a strong vocal performance, which help ensure variation in the vocal department.

"Crimson" is well produced, featuring a raw, organic, and detailed production, which suits the material perfectly. A more clean and clinical sounding production probably wouldn´t have suited the material as well. The album was recorded and mixed by Swanö at his own Unisound studio. Upon conclusion "Crimson" is a high quality release in every possible way. It features a well sounding production, strong musicianship, and adventurous songwriting, which was unique for the time, and a 5 star (100%) rating is fully deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

Finally i had the chance to review this album. Dan Swano the master behind the music is an important musician in death metal field, the result is the first 3 albums of Edge of Sanity. From Crimson Swano incorporeted some prog elements, not many but quite enough to make this album not to be clasified as death metal enterly. The album is composed from only one track. Crimson is mostly built up of melodic death metal with catchy reffs and inteligent lyrics. The voice of Swano is better than on previous albums so the music, is mutch complex and and better played. We have a guest musician from Opeth (who were at the beggining of their stunning carere),Mikael Akerfeldt, who give a new dimension to Crimson's music. So the music from here is original, diverse and pleases many prog fans not only death metal fanatics. 4 stars for Crimson, recommended, one of the best albums of the '90's.

One song, one album, limitless ammounts of possibility with this 40 minute epic. This song has to be one of my all time favourites in the progressive/melodic death genre of metal. This album seems incredibly unorthodox. I mean, I read about this album and how there is only one song on it and I really didn't know what to think from there. I normally get bored with these "endless" epic songs but my attention was purely focused on the music through out the whole song.

"Crimson" from what I can gather is a song about how life will be at the end of the world, how humans can no longer breed so obviously, humanity as they know it would be extinct. The guitar work is just incredible on this album, quite possibly the best guitar work in any Edge Of Sanity song. Swano's death vocals and clean metal vocals are all there but that really is no different from any other Edge Of Sanity song. It seems as everyone in the band really went all out on this masterpiece. I honestly can not find anything wrong with this song, it is sheer brilliance...that's really all I can say. Also, listen up for a guest apperance by now Opeth front man Mikael Akerfeldt, he really doesn't let us down on this track.

All in all it is a great song and any fan of Edge Of Sanity, any of Swano's other projects or basically any fan of the whole death metal, melodic death metal or prog metal should really check this out you won't be dissapointed, I know I wasn't.

Originally written for metal-archives.com

This album is brilliant, and the only reason it's not in the top 100 or the top 20 for tech/extreme metal is becuase not enough people have reviewed it yet. It is only 1 song. Clocking in at 40 minutes but it is a perfect blend of true death metal and true progressive rock in the veign of Opeth. Speaking of Opeth, Opeth's frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt does some vocals and guitar on the Epic. I recommend this album to everyone interested in extreme metal or any progressive rock fan with an open mind

The only essential Edge Of Sanity album.

This album takes the Thick As A Brick approach of one album, one song. the music is mostly in the Opeth vein, only with less acoustic sections, and a greater emphasis on the guitar riffs. and what riffs! I have no idea how he did it, but after years of churning out primitive death metal riffs, Dan Swano managed to come up with an endless bag of awesome guitar riffs, all of them instantly memorable and hard rocking. The vocals are equally good, as Swano alternates between great death growls and beautifull, epic-sounding clean singing. this album doesn't really have anything other then those riffs and the vocals, but goddamnit, it doesn't need anything else! the 40 minutes never feel overlong, and nothing on here is annoying or boring.

A Masterpiece.

She was born to rule these desert lands...

One of the best death metal albums I have ever heard, hands down. This epic release by Edge of Sanity is simply astounding. So much interesting, diverse, and unique material within this 40 minute opus, I could barely believe it on my first listen. (or second...)

The song begins with an interesting death metal riff with excellent vocals. As a note, the story is well written, and lyrically intriguing. Telling a science fiction tale. Progressing from a plethora of amazing riffs, with some outstanding acoustic and soft breaks/interludes. There is one particular interlude features a riveting acoustic solo that gives me goosebumps each time I hear it. It is restrained and mature.

The riffs go from plodding and destructive, to downright doom laden and hellish. They cross anywhere from almost upbeat speed sections, to death breakdowns and primal guttural roars. The melodic death metal parts raise the hairs on my neck and are absolutely brilliant. With lead guitar by Mikael Akerfeldt, from Opeth. The soloing is stunning, and very emotional (especially for a death metal album). Swano is able to go from superb death growling to a commanding and confident deep almost operatic singing for some of the sections. Then song flows so well as a whole, that it adds quite a bit of cohesion to the overall sound. The riffing, oh how magnificent and crunching it can get.

The soft interludes are well placed, and add dimensions to death metal you don't see outside of a few top name bands. The album moves along at a brilliant pace, the music fitting the story. Near the end of the album, the solos begin to shred and rip through the song, causing complete devastation to all in its path. I am shocked each time I hear this segment at the wonders the guitars bring forth. After this, the song goes back to its complex melodic death metal riffing alongside demonically growled vocals.

The complexities of the album are in the multi-faceted riff progression, beautiful acoustic breaks, intelligently written and executed tale, time changes, movements, and interwoven guitar harmonies. The soloing is amazing, and emotion. It is hard for me to cite major flaws with the work unless you just don't like death metal. Some of the breakdowns I suppose are a bit barbaric, but they fit the theme, and never bothered me. In fact, they oft-times catch me off guard and pack quite an unexpected punch. There are only a few of them, and it in no way lowered my enjoyment of the album. In compositional terms, the album is fierce and solid, yet flowing and malleable. Never dull, and never overly repetitive. The themes are explored to their fullest, and the entire album has an air of being brutally tasteful (that is possible?).

This is an absolute progressive death metal masterpiece, and sits alongside any of Opeth's greatest work. Highly recommended to anyone interested in Progressive death. I can confidently award this album 5 stars. An epic not to be missed.

I will open with two very sweeping statement: first off, this is a masterpiece, and should be in anyone's books really. I mean, anyone who merges death metal and prog this perfectly deserves four star credit, and anyone who transforms that idea into a 40-minute prog metal tour de force deserves even more credit; secondly, this is in my top 10 albums ever created by anyone. In that list is Still Life by Opeth, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles and Pawn Hearts by Van Der Graaf Generator. With that, you kind of get the idea of how good this album is in my humble opinion.

As I mentioned above, this is untamed death metal augmented with many prog touches. Some of the most brutal moments in prog lie within this disk, so don't approach it thinking you are going to hear another Thick As A Brick, because that just ain't what this album is about. It's almost as if the same brainwave that hit Mike Oldfield and Ian Anderson some 20-odd years before hit Dan Swano in the same way. The point I am trying to get at is that this music is no clone. Expect complete originality. Some of the most beautiful melodies in prog metal also lie within, and most are delivered in a splendid manner in the form of clean vocals from both Dan Swano and guest appearance Mikael Akerfeldt. On top of the brutality, beautiful melody and originality, great guitarwork, riff usage and technicality are also embedded into the song. Yep, this is exciting stuff, and has almost everything a fan of this sort of music could ask for.

Now onto the actual music. I have no complaints whatsoever, so let's just get that out of the way. It's hard to describe this disk musically because there is nothing really specific to the style. We have more traditional elements in the mix, like classically influenced solos and some jazz influence in the quieter sections (those elements are actually evident in most progressive death metal, and they sound just as awesome on here) and the riffs bare a strong atonal value in some areas. The quieter parts are also not very few and far between, making it easier on the ears for that of those unfamiliar with death metal. One thing I must comment on is that most of the sections have a kind of finality to them, i.e. ending on a perfect cadence. This means that, like Green Carnation's "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness", the songs could work on there own. However, they also work very well flowing into each other. It's a very hard trait to achieve, but Swano pulled it off. Excellently, as well.

The riffs are punchy, the vocals clear, the lyrics great and imaginative, the drumming just as metal drumming should be, the songwriting inventive all round yet down to earth at the same time, the solos otherworldy... I repeat again, everything on this album is perfect and I don't have a single complaint. If you are interested in progressive death metal and are looking for something a bit more pretntious and bombastic than Cynic and Pestilence, but more brutal and aggressive than Opeth and Estatic Fear, then this is definitely a must have for you. If you already own Still Life, Symbolic and Lateralus and want another masterpiece of progressive metal to your collection, then this is also a must have. 5 stars, easily.

This is a very good album. It is perhaps the most adventurous and experimental death metal record I have listened to. One of my favorite parts of the album is the story. The story, about a dying Earth and it's last inhabitants and a queen hellbent on domination and destruction, is very well written and the band does a great job in keeping up with the story and not straying away from it with long instrumental passages. The instrumentation actually goes along with the story very well.

Some things about this album did bug me, however. I felt like the band, although fantastic on this record, did not play enough melodic music on the album. I felt like the raw death metal took over the melodic death metal too much (and some parts of the album would have done very well with some nice melodic death metal). Some of the riffs on the album also seemed a bit too dry and rather uninspired (especially around the 15-20 minute mark and some towards the end).

I'm probably emphasizing some of the flaws on this album too much, because this album is great. the story, clean and death vocals, and the instrumentation were all top notch on this record and they are especially top notch when considering that it's in the spectrum of death metal. I recommend this album to any fan of prog who's willing to take the growling death metal vocals.

My 100th review on ProgArchives!

Since I only reach the big 100 once, I wanted to make sure I reviewed a special album. I put a lot of thought as to what I would review right now, but I've decided on "Crimson" by Edge of Sanity. What better album to review than a classic 40-minute progressive death metal epic?

This was my introduction to this excellent Swedish band, and this is their Magnum Opus for sure. If someone new to the progressive metal genre were to ask me for three essential progressive death metal albums I would say "Still Life" by Opeth, "Symbolic" by Death, and "Crimson" by Edge of Sanity. Sure there are plenty of albums out there that are of equal quality to these three masterpieces, but those three define the genre.

Of course, you noticed that this album is in my top three progressive death metal albums EVER released. That is quite the accomplishment, and shows how great this album really is!

So what is the music like?

Well, it is pretty heavy. Dan Swanö growls most of the time, it has the occasional blast-beat drumming, but also has some beautiful passages with Dan's unique singing voice. Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth fame is also present on this album, and you can easily identify his growl over Dan Swanö's. The is also filled with instrumental sections, all of which flow very well. The production of this album is very good, and is one of the better productions of the 90's.

As with most 40-minute songs, there is a set of repeating themes, and they are all used perfectly. Most of the musical themes are very dark and heavy, though there are some more mellow and emotional ones as well. Most of this album is dark musically, but it is very dark lyrically as well. It tells a science fiction story of when human civilization is no longer able to reproduce, and is coming to an end. I won't get into to much detail, just because when you experience the story for the first time it is incredible! It is a very deep story that is easily in my top 10 stories ever told in music. Read the lyrics, and you will know what I mean.

Is it prog?

Of course! Symphonic prog fans might actually like this album if they can get past the growled vocals. It contains a great variety of moods, and never does it disappoint. It takes a few listens to take all 40 minutes in, and understand them, but once you do, you'll realize how great this album is.

Few bands can pull of a 40 minute song. Most bands don't even bother trying! Even the bands that do try rarely succeed, and Edge of Sanity is a band that pulls it off with ease. This is a masterpiece that is essential in any prog metal collection! If you're just into Yes, Genesis, ELP, and King Crimson you might also be in for a pleasant surprise with this masterpiece.

5 stars.

1996. The year that I finally gave in to death metal grunts. And this album was the cause of that deterioration of my moral grounds. For three good reasons: because Dan Swanö's grunts are very impressive, because they make sense and because this is such an amazing album.

I really love how this piece starts in the middle of things and also how it ends very abruptly, as if it is only a part of an even bigger composition. The music pulls you in right from the very first second, there's no long and slowly building intro as you might expect from a 40 minute piece. This is an action movie that starts in the middle of a car chase.

While all reviews share a deep affection for this piece I was quite surprised it isn't generally considered as prog. How can a continuous 40 minute composition of this scale not be prog? This is not a mere succession of riffs but a sequence of musical scenes and developing themes, reminding me slightly of VDGG's Plague of Lighthouse Keepers. Not only due to the dark atmosphere but also because of the scenic construction behind it. Swanö provides the correct dose of quiet sections to offset the heavy parts. It makes the music very digestible so it's no surprise it got me into extreme metal, it's a perfect starting point to get into the style.

Of course this is no symphonic prog, it's a mixed form with extreme metal, meaning there is a dominating emphasis on riffs and quiet-loud dynamics. There's less room for progressive development of the music but the entire piece sounds as if it was born from one single creative outburst. It flows very naturally and doesn't have one weaker moment.

Dan Swanö has composed and played most of this album all by himself, with only a little help from his bandmates. An interesting guest of honour is Mike Akerfeldt. He provides guitar and vocals, but not the main low dark grunt nor the clean vocals, even though the growls especially sound quite like him. He takes care of the black metal screams that pop up left and right. I think I can also single out some of his guitar contributions such as the harmonic leads around 11.30, it's something he was very fond of back then and it features heavily on Opeth's concurrent albums Orchid and Morningrise.

While the 5 stars are not as solid as those attributed to the Opeth masterpieces in this section, it comes pretty close. It's an album that shouldn't be overlooked by the legions of Opeth fans out there, excellent in quality and essential in the realm of progressive extremities.

I have to first of all thank Bonnek for this one. Whenever I hear that there are growly vocals on an album I usually proceed with caution although I must admit OPETH is one of those few bands where I can not only tolerate them but appreciate them, especially in contrast to the atmospheric sections with clean vocals. And really that's what this album is all about. The contrast of styles, between beauty and raw aggression. I shouldn't have been surprised I guess to see that Mikael Akerfeldt guests on this record.

This is one long 40 minute piece that changes and evolves and where themes are repeated. And that's the aspect of this recording that really impresses me. Much like GREEN CARNATION's "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness" the story is told without breaks, it just flows. And like with most OPETH albums I love when the intensity dies down and the atmosphere sets in with those clean vocals.

I never thought i'd hear another band do something like in the style of "Still Life" or "Blackwater Park" that would be just as impressive until now. Should have known that if it did happen they'd come from Sweden. 4.5 stars.

Fantastic album!One of my favorite albums.Extreme prog metal at its best!This album contains only one song(40 minutes).The members are:Dan Swano:Guitars,keyboards,clean and death metal vocals,Andreas Axelsson:Guitar,Sami Nerberg:Guitar,Anders Lindberg:Bass guitar,Benny Larsson:Drums and Inspiration and the guests are:Anders Mareby:Electric Cello(great solo) and Mikael Akerfeldt:Lead guitar(fantastic solo)and screams(perfect performance).There are great ideas which are repeated because the story changes its chapters.Here we have prog rock,gothic metal,death/black metal,folk elements and some electronic elements.

The artwork is like a comic's cover.It shows the Queen(the main character of the story)closed in a crimson cage.Also there are some faces on the cage(and the place that there's the cage and the other cages with another queens(I think)is made of stone(it's like a cave's room)) which look like totem faces.

My most favorite parts except from all the album and Dan Swano's performance are:the vocals and the guitar solo of Mikael Akerfeldt,the cello solo of Anders Mareby,the dynamic beginning and the folk-style singing(which reminds me a little the greek traditional songs)which there is almost two minutes before the end of the song.

I recommend it to all open-minded music fans because it's not for everyone.A metal gem and not only!

My grade:8,5/10

For the king had shown them it could be done when his woman gave birth to the sacred one.

Hail the King of death metal, Dan Swanö. I've waited a long time to review this album, since it was so complex, with its neat structures, changes in genre, and overall greatness. Crimson is one of, if not my first death metal album, that I had ever listened to, and am I ever glad I did. There is so much going on in this song that it's hard to put in words what exactly I like about the album.

One thing that I like so much is the changing of the tempo and genre. Even within the first couple of minutes Edge of Sanity goes from medium pace progressive death metal to slower acoustics with regular vocals. All throughout the album they keep doing this, which makes it very complex and insanely good. The musicianship on this album is also some of the best I have ever heard in death metal. Mikael Akerfeldt, the man behind the greatness of Opeth, does a superb job on guitars, leading to a very enjoyable sound that carries throughout the whole album. He's also exceptionally good on the acoustic sections. A cool feature that EoS employs is right after the acoustic sections of the song, they transfer right into straight out death metal, creating a very unique sound.

This being my first death metal album, even if it is progressive, this was my introduction to growling. At first I was like, "Yeah, yeah speak normally please", but then after some listens I began to see the brilliance of Dan Swanö. His vocals are very deep, and blend in great with the melodies of Mikael Akerfeldt and the superb drumming of Benny Larsson. His regular vocals are also very good, to go along with his growling.

Sometimes I can't come up with words to describe how awesome this album is. The licks, melodies, and riffs are top notch, and blend well with the excellent vocals of Dan Swanö. For one of the best progressive death metal albums that were ever released Edge of Sanity gets an obvious 5 stars.

'Crimson' - Edge Of Sanity (10/10)

This band and album came to my attention through my once-fervent appreciation of the fellow Swedish progressive death metal group Opeth. Although my love of Opeth has since dwindled a fair bit, I am left now with the music of Edge Of Sanity, led by none other than Dan Swano, who seems to have taught Opeth frontman quite a bit when it comes to metal. With the prospect of a forty minute epic riding my expectations high, I was nearly expecting to be let down, but quite clearly; that was not the case. Rivaled by only a handful of other albums in death metal, 'Crimson' is a powerfully crafted opus that takes beauty and heaviness in equal measure and combines them in a narrative style to create what is one of the best put-together concept albums I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Telling a fairly dark story that blends elements of science-fiction and the supernatural, 'Crimson' revolves around a dismal vision of the future in which mankind can breed no longer, and depends on a mythic princess to lead them to salvation. Unfortunately, she makes a deal with an 'unholy entity' of sorts to save her people, and from there on, things start to fall apart. Even as a story of its own, 'Crimson' is a convincing piece of fantasy fiction, and while some parts of the plot are left a bit obscure, it feels like a perfect milieu for the music to score. Although some listeners may find it difficult to follow the story on first listen due to the rather garbled nature of death metal growls (of which there are plenty here), the music gets the intended feeling and imagery across just right. 'Crimson' also makes use of some incredibly memorable leitmotifs that also seem to coincide with recurring narrative elements, such as death. Speaking musically, Edge Of Sanity is very clever in the way they re-use ideas from earlier in the forty minute epic; things never feel too familiar, and there is always a tinge of development to make the ideas feel even more dramatic than earlier on.

For death metal, the guitar work here is surprisingly melodic and often alternates between heavier and darker moments, much in the same way Opeth would. There are also some guest appearances from Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth, doing a vocal section and some guitar soloing. What might come as a surprise to some that find themselves particularly endeared to the band is that Akerfeldt's performance here pales in comparison to Dan Swano. Especially in Swano's emotive growling, there is always great power involved, and the lyrics are much more coherent than some other vocalists in death metal. Swano's clean approach isn't quite as sharp as his growling, but his deep tenor holds a nice resonance, particularly in a part later on where he harmonizes with himself beautifully.

The lead guitar licks are always top notch and melodic; never particularly technical, but always powerful. The rhythm guitar is not quite as organic, instead sometimes feeling like it is simply there to get the heaviness and chords across without putting its own mark of feeling into the music. That being said, there is little to distract from the enjoyment of this work. Although the word 'epic' is unfortunately tossed around far too often when describing music, Edge Of Sanity's 'Crimson' writes the book on it. One of the most powerful albums out there in the world of metal, progressive or otherwise.

Yes It's That Good

I know very little Edge of Sanity or Dan Swano beyond this album. The snippets I've heard are good but nothing really transcendent. But on CRIMSON, something special happened. It must have been one of those synchronous moments, perhaps a bit of (dark) magic. Maybe some unseen spirit was directing the writing and recording. Whatever the cause, the result was phenomenal. This album combines Fields of the Nephilim / Sisters of Mercy goth rock with As I Lay Dying sludge / goth metal with a distinct style of melodic death and even some black elements. Despite harsh vocals, grinding riffs, and a slightly lo-fi production, the album is so musical. Integral to the album is the appearance of Mikael Akerfeldt, and one can't help but think that this album deeply affected what was to become the Opeth sound. I can hear sections reminiscent of Still Life, yet this album came first. Though the album certainly sounds its age in terms of guitar tone and production, the vision is something clearly ahead of its time.

If anything, CRIMSON is even more eclectic than Opeth. The vocals are extremely varied, from a low goth voice to various growls to Mikael's soaring clean tone. Each timbre plays a specific role, and each fits perfectally in its place. The lead guitars occasionally solo but most of the time they serve as melodic elements, tying the massive 40 minute piece together. Sections recur and themes mingle in and out, but the structure never uses a traditional verse or chorus. Rather, we have scenes in the dark fantasy story, which I actually don't pay that much attention to. The tempo is all over the place, but it works. The drums are never flashy, always contributing to the song.

While the sounds are more typical death metal, the ethic is more black. The album is atmospheric, employs simpler production, some tremolo sections, and less technical emphasis. This is progressive in terms of arrangement, composition, and overall vision. This is nothing like Dream Theater. Instead, it is the closest thing to an extreme metal Wall or Mindcrime you're going to find.

Ambitious, singular, musical, masterpiece.

Crimson's 'Edge of Sanity' is being hailed as a metal masterpiece by listeners and rightly so as it boasts one single 40 minute track that features innovative non stop brutal metal. Many times clean vocals interject Opeth style as on 'Still Life', in fact Akerfeldt features on the album. Overall it is a blistering attack on the senses with distortion up to the roof and gravelly caustic death metal vocals. There is a conceptual story involving the shadow of death going about its gruelling business. I have not been into the darker metal music since I gave it away in the early 90s, preferring metal without the growls, however the music here is astounding and structurally the epic is without fault. There is a lot of inventive touches such as at 33 minutes when the chants are almost Gregorian, but then brutal death vocals blacken the atmospheres. There are fast drumming sections and breakneck riffing. Many riffs are featured and perhaps enough for ten songs at least. Similar to Opeth the dark and light sections are evident. Not a fan of death metal, I was still impressed by the sheer innovation and there are some striking elements, and clean vocal sections were incredible. This one comes recommended to the faithful death metal fans, and those who simply want to check out the technical side of extreme metal. The track finishes so abruptly it is rather a shock, but at 40 minutes I am aware that many listeners will play this over and over. Definitely worth a listen, though I wished it was not concentric around the relentless growls and screeches.

You can't be serious! Is this a joke? This album is rated by PA reviewers/raters # 30--ahead of ALL Gentle Giant albums, "Relayer"! ALL Magma albums, "Aqualung"! ALL Frank Zappa albums, "The Lamb"! ALL maudlin of the Well albums, "A Trick of the Tail"! ALL Tangerine Dream albums, "The Yes Album"! ALL Mahavishnu Orchestra, Caravan and Area albums! People! Can't you see it: The emperor isn't wearing any clothes! The only thing remotely progressive about this album is the fairly creative way in which it strings together no less than 48 familiar themes of metal/heavy metal music together into one 40-minute long medley! (Averaging about 45 seconds per theme.)

All of the music is very familiar--that's because it's all stolen! The bands these guys are imitating include (sort of in order): Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin, Dick Dale, Queensryche, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Peter Murphy, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Steppenwolf, Scorpions, Megadeth, The Sweet, Van Halen, Pat Benetar, Poison, Slayer, Mötley Crüe, Whitesnake, Prince, Anthrax, and even Cream, to name but a few--most of which are fairly simple two- or three-chord rock progressions in what seem to be very straightforward time signatures. And then, 90% of the singing is done by a screaming guy with a terrible case of laryngitis.

It's like listening to the Led Zeppelin "tribute band," Dread Zeppelin! I can't help but wonder if I'm supposed to take this music seriously (and cringe and try to restrain my vomit) or smile and laugh!

"Essential"? -- No way!

"A masterpiece"? -- Quite the opposite!

"Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection"? -- Only if you're into tribute bands!

"Good, but non-essential"? -- Not even close!

In my opinion, this one should be reserved for collectors/fans only--though, in truth, I think it would be better suited as A Growled Revue of The History of Heavy Metal Music performed in an off-Broadway music hall.

I am not a fan of death metal vocals, having listened to the sequel of this masterpiece I realised how light going this actually is in comparison. I actually could understand the lyrics, which helped no end. I've run this about 50 times through the player and I still listen to it the whole way through. It's never boring, the chords perhaps are quite simplistic although a few riffs really stand out such as at this 16 minute mark, and the 25 minute one reprised again at minute 35. The story really attracted me to the piece immediately, and not being one to shy away from length and much enjoying the longer single song albums, I had no choice but to investigate what many praised as the best/ one of. And is it ever.

Edge of Sanity's masterpiece took a while to grow on me, but what at first sounded like a fairly typical death metal album which happened to consist of a single long track soon turned out to be a much more intriguing proposition, with diverse changes in mood and style to convey the album's narrative. Dan Swanö delivers his most varied and diverse vocals to date whilst the band provide both the musical backdrop and the special effects for the science fantasy story. At one point in the album the lead guitars manage to achieve a perfect imitation of a warning siren - which sounds cheesy on paper, but in this context it really works. As far as melodic death metal goes, this is a high water mark indeed.

Edge Of Sanity are one of the many bands to come out of the Scandinavian metal scene. Dan Swano is the leader here but would leave after this album. I'm more familiar with his work in his other projects rather than in Edge Of Sanity. Crimson was one of those albums I had heard about and wanted to hear. This is currently out-of-print AFAIK and if you cannot find it you will not be missing a masterpiece of prog. You will find a very good death metal album though. The proggiest aspects of this album are the fact that it is a 40 minute song and it reprises earlier sections. It does not flow like an epic but rather sounds like 8 or 10 different metal songs all cut up and edited out of sync. Mr. Opeth, Mikael Akerfeldt guests here on guitar and vocals. There is some growling on the album but thankfully it's not the only kind of singing.

Starting out with growling and heavy riffs it quickly calms down before staying in a death metal style for awhile. Eventually some modified 'normal' singing and clean guitars for awhile. Some piano as well. I like this section. Then some Spanish style acoustic guitar. A part that reminds me of Pantera before before some fast speed metal/death metal stuff. A repeated guitar figure with some vocals that remind me of Type O Negative. What sounds like violin around 8 minutes. Another clean guitar/non-growled vocal part. Sounds like some keyboards before it goes into Tool like drumming. A short spoken word section with great guitar playing. More fast sh*t and growling. After 13 minutes great bass with those Tool style drums again with some good mini-soloing from guitar. More fast sh*t and screaming.

Nice thrash groove around 15 minutes. Really love the drumming before just before 23 minutes. Type O Negative style vocals come back. The riff starting before 25 minutes sounds like a Type O riff. More fast sh*t. More clean guitar stuff with some very alterna-rock type vocals (think Creed). A decent guitar solo at one point. I like the echoed/delayed/chorused/whatever guitar parts although you only briefly hear them once in awhile. More fast sh*t. The music stops after 32 minutes or so and then you hear a great a cappella part with studio altered vocals. This album needed more unpredictable parts like that. You know what follows that part? More fast sh*t. The Type O riff from earlier starts to get played slower and slower. This leads to the conclusion of the piece which features some good symphonic keyboards. A little more spoken word. Ends with the growling and heavy riffs of the beginning.

I don't really care for the beginning and ending of the album; starts and ends too abrupt for my tastes. I like the album cover although I'm not exactly sure what it is. There is nothing here that wasn't already being done by at least 1992. Nothing very original but a consistent metal album from the 1990s. Of interest to prog fans but nothing essential. Not as great as I originally expected but after several listens I certainly enjoyed it more than the first listen. My final verdict will be 3 stars.

This is an album (or song) that from the very second you press play, you never want to press the stop button. With Dan Swanö's thunderous opening line of "Another sky is young", you are immediately gripped and transported to another world (which happens to be on the brink of destruction as you witness the events before you). The music, lyrics, and overall concept paint such a beautiful image of this futuristic dystopia, where the daughter of a King leads a successful coup attempt against him, and eventually becomes ruler herself, only to be captured and imprisoned in crimson fluid (as you see on the cover). The performances all-around are top-notch and the intensity does not let up, even Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth makes a guest appearance here and displays one of his all-time best harsh vocal performances alongside Dan Swanö's equally powerful roars. This is simply a must have for fans of progressive music and old school death metal in general. One of my personal favorite albums in any genre of all time.

I am one of those who didn't really like this upon first listen. I had the hardest time without some kind of intro build up to something grander. This simply starts out as simple death metal and THEN takes you on a journey once you've had a little time to get into the groove of the whole thing. Damn. I hate being manipulated but EDGE OF SANITY managed to do it with this release. Despite not loving this upon first spin, I was drawn back. Driven to get this MF it finally happened one night. I got it. And once I did, OMG! OK. I get it now. I succumb to the insidious charm that this album has. Now I love it and recognize it for its beauty. It's weird how certain vocalists even within the growly death metal arena just don't do it for ya. Well Dan Swan' has been one of those vocalists for me, so it took more than the recommended time for to adjust to his. But after I did..... pure magic. Now I can say I love this album and recognize it for the masterpiece it truly is.

Crimson - a single 40-minute song - is acclaimed as the proggiest that death metal goes, certainly by the time it was released in 1996. It sounds surprisingly coherent, but I like to think of it not as a composition - there is little of advanced compositional technique to speak of - but rather as a story set to continuous stream of music. Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt was involved, and it shows - it's the familiar for fans of Opeth's mid-period formula of death metal interspersed with calm breaks and more traditional thrash and power metal moments. It's actually fairly accessible and melodic by death metal standards. But I still think it's overrated. It's no Opeth. Calmer breaks are mostly just what they are - breaks, not countermelodies. Production and clean singing is weak - and I'm sick of the excuse that's its weak because it's supposed to convey a theme that is bleak. Opeth's Ghost Reveries production - now that kicks some serious behind.

Edge Of Sanity's 'Crimson' is an album which gets a lot of love from the metal community, and I'm pleased to see it gets plenty of love on prog archives as well! Well, this review isn't going to change that in the slightest. I still remember the day I first heard 'Crimson', I was totally blown away by what I heard. At the time I had just discovered Opeth and their album 'Morningrise', and I can remember searching for other bands with a similar style to that record. It was by chance I came across this album and this band. A death metal record with a single 40-minute song just seemed to good to be true!

But let me tell you something - this album deserves all of the hype it receives. Before I talk in detail about the music I feel its important to put this album into its chronological context. This was released in 1996 - there were very few experimental death metal bands around in the mid-90's, and certainly none with the audacity to write a single 40-minute extreme metal opera! If 'Crimson' were released today it would go down as a good, but not a particularly inspired album. But twenty years ago this was utterly ground-breaking - and its all down to one man, probably the most underrated and unappreciated musician in heavy metal, Mr Dan Swano.

So what makes 'Crimson' so good? I think there are four ingredients which combine to make this a classic record;

The riffs - there is no getting away from it, there are some brilliant metal riffs on this album - they are crunchy, at times melodic and most importantly varied.

The structure - this single 40-minute song is very progressive, there are lots of dynamic breaks, varied sections, soft and heavy parts and it feels unified and consistent throughout.

The story - this is a concept album, and a fun one at that! I'll leave you to read the lyrics, but when Dan Swano opens up the start of the album with the guttural shouting "Another sky is young... Another frozen future has passed" you get excited at the prospect of the rest of the music to come!

The atmosphere - this is one of those albums where I love the production and the slight muddiness of the recording; it feels dirty and full of grime, and in that way it fits the story wonderfully!

Something which might interest readers who aren't familiar with Edge Of Sanity is the contribution a certain Mikael Akerfeldt had on this album, who plays guitar solos and adds some of the clean vocals found in this record. In many ways Opeth's 'Morningrise' and Edge Of Sanity's 'Crimson' are peas in a pod. Both released in 1996. Both Swedish origin. And most obviously both lead musicians in each band were friends with each other. There are a lot of similarities between 'Crimson' and 'Morningrise', but I would say that 'Crimson' is harder-edged and a bit more savage than 'Morningrise'.

Before I give this album a rating I just want to mention Dan Swano again. I've always felt that this guy doesn't get the half the respect or appreciation he should be due. He has contributed so much to the progressive metal scene, and not just as a musician or composer, but also as a producer. The poor guy still works in his brothers record store. Okay, he probably likes working in his brothers record store, but so few people in the "metal community" have heard of Swano. I've always considered it somewhat of an injustice.

Anyway, I'll get off my fan-boy pedestal before I fall off and give this album a very obvious and predictable rating... 5 stars - can't go wrong with this and like a fine wine its aged very well indeed over time!

The Technical Death Lusíadas: 10/10

I had to do a seven-hours-trip, and to pass time, what better than listen to a bunch of brand new songs? However, as I did so, I kept asking to myself... am I enjoying this? Why am I listening to this song? Why don't I skip? Should I just leave it on the background? Should listening be an active action? Should enjoying be conscious? How do I get immersed?

That's when CRIMSON came in. The music arrived with such passion, quality and timing I listened to the whole forty minutes completely immersed and pleased. It revived on me the amazing feeling that is to enjoy an album thoroughly, to feel delighted, to feel withdrawal and to hear the song's riffs in my mind when I wasn't listening to it, and most importantly, what makes an album truly be worth of five-stars. An album that is just beyond an enjoyment, or a feature of many great songs - an, above everything else, delightful experience.

Now, ending our anecdotal story, let's go to the review.

OPETH receives worldwide acclaim for their successful infusion of progressive elements in the extreme metal genre. Perhaps less known, however not in any way less skillful, stands aside the underrepresented (but luckily not underestimated) Nordic prog death princes of EDGE OF SANITY.

CRIMSON, their fifth record, is the moment the band reached their progressive epitome. Featuring a wide array of diverse and unconventional stylistic, structural and instrumental arrangements, EDGE brings a highly eclectic death metal record.

Featuring Mikael Akerfeldt - a proof the Swedish pioneers are quite friendly among themselves - on the vocals and lead guitar, surprisingly, the guttural singing is not as flawless as one would expect in, say, an OPETH album. It's not bad, not even close, it is merely raw. This doesn't mean anything as there are countless vocal techniques employed here, both clean and not. Mikael and Dan Swano (band frontman) ranges from prophetic corals to deadly groaning, which fits the song's atmosphere nicely. Speaking of which, it has nothing to do with a violent bloodbath linked to the image of typical death metal (although prog death seldom resembles their plebby, needlessly vicious counterpart). Instead, the atmosphere is melodic, aggressive, vivid and rather epic.

Instrumental wise, one would praise the powerful guitar and its constant changes and variety of riffs and bridges and solos. There are acoustic parts, ecstatic thrashy pieces and crushing/melodic riffs. I mean it when I say there are A LOT of riffs, some of which are played a couple of times but the vast being one-timers. In fact, the album is constantly changing - but always keeping in its core a moderate death metal tonality.

There's a reason why the song is so varied, though. It is due to the story being told. The lyrics speak an epic story about a post-apocalyptic world where humans have lost the capability of breeding, yet miraculously the emperor's wife gave birth a girl, who is the chosen one - assuming humans can't breed, she HAS to be a godsend. The frail hopes of humanity's perpetuation, always on check, supposes it has own. But the question brought is... is she daughter of which god, the good or evil one? Will she bring humanity life or end its fragile existence?

Surprisingly, the plot and narrative are extremely accomplished and captivating. I would've never expected such a poetic, beautiful tale written by a death metal band, that would stereotypically focus on all that is brutal and coarse. It's absolutely spectacular how delicately crafted each verse is, with both internal and external rhymes that smoothly intersects different bars. Think of rap's lyrics king' creations and apply a deadly metallic sonority to understand CRIMSON's accomplishment. I am NOT a lyrics person, but I can't not attest that reading the lyrics while listening to the song enhances the experience infinitely.

In the end, CRIMSON is the type of album which you would have to listen several times to asborb each beautiful lyrical or instrumental detail, each nuance and peculiarity, each odd time signature and each uncommon structural feature. And most importantly, it's the type of album you would listen again and again, forever and ever, always wondering when will you find such a superb album again.

... and also what the hell did the last line infer. I mean, seriously...

Crimson is considered Edge of Sanity's crowning achievement, masterpiece, finest work, etc. And even if you don't think that it's amazing, you have to admit that it's an ambitious move: one forty-minute conceptual song, with a push towards a more progressive style. While it's a good song and it's always at least interesting to see a band move outside of their comfort zone, Crimson doesn't quite reach the heights that have been ascribed to it.

There is not enough variety to sustain Crimson ' this is the main flaw, and it seems like Swano & Co pieced together about ten or so separate but similar songs in order to achieve the length that they did. Unfortunately the detriments of having full-blast death metal for one continuous forty minute song is that it can become a bit stagnant after a while, not really exploring much new territory even in the depths of the song. They do change it up, throwing in some upbeat and doomy riffs, as well as the occasional soft part, but for most of the track they stick to their principal sound, and in this regard, take no risks. There is nothing wrong with the actual music and the death metal is some of the band's strongest, with riffs-aplenty and quite a few energetically aggressive moments, while still showing off that melodic side. I've never been a huge fan of Swano's vocals but Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth has a guest spot and does a fantastic job, his growls furious and his clean singing pleasant.

The other issue with Crimson is that there isn't really any payoff. The song stops just as Edge of Sanity begins to build up to a big finish, and the grand finale that we do get seems very hastily thrown together after a disjointed previous few minutes. And the very end ' the last few seconds ' are painfully anticlimactic as it just screeches to a halt all of the sudden. I had to listen to this from multiple sources just to make sure the song wasn't getting cut off and I was missing something, but it seems as if they couldn't think of a real ending. The concept of this album isn't very important in comparison to the music although I'd like to address it, and I applaud EoS for this extra effort on top of the fact that they managed to write an album-length song. The storyline combines science fiction and mysticism, but the details are unknown to me because Edge of Sanity doesn't make their lyrics particularly clear and unambiguous, and I don't care enough to look it up. The nature of the growled vocals that are used a majority of the time makes the plot harder yet to follow and I'd like to petition a ban on primarily using harsh vocals for concept albums.

Crimson doesn't work as a forty minute song, despite having very little problem with flow. There are few drastic changes and even fewer distinct movements ' it is based more upon random meandering than musical evolution and real progress. The music behind this is some quality melodeath, and if you don't think of Crimson as one cohesive song, then it's a solid piece of work.

As a lover of both prog metal and Swedish metal, I really enjoyed this album. I approached this album with a prog metal mindset rather than a death metal mindset, and what I got in terms of progressive was very impressive. The album is just one long 40 minute song that is a treat to listen to. It has death metal riffs, progressive metal ideas and tendencies, and the Opeth singer, what more could you ask for in a heavy prog metal album? The album has softer passages as well, which is a good break from all the heaviness that goes on. Upon first listen however, I was not getting into it as much as I was the second listen. It's just one of those albums that upon first listen, you're not as into it or impressed as you are the second and third listen.

If you like Opeth and later Death then you will really enjoy this album. A masterpiece of heavier progressive metal and death metal. Great riffs, one great long song and excellent instrumentation are just some of the treats you get when you're listening to this album.

"Woah that song is forty minutes long!" the album.

That was what I always thought about this album until I listened it. Edge Of Sanity is a pretty obscure band, and I wouldn't really say that their discography is as strong as the one from other Tech Metal acts like Opeth or Death, but this album is a true marvel for its genre.

The song alternates between heavy and crushing riffs to mellow acoustic passages, much like Opeth (no wonder why the mastermind behind Opeth, Mikael, was brought as a featured artist). A perfect balance between these contrasting properties is present and it's undeniable that it adds great dynamic to this masterwork.

Obviously, if you start to listen to this album, you must finish it. It flows amazingly (mostly due to the fact that it's a single song) and isn't a boring listen in any way. I think my five star rating shouldn't be too controversial. Most metalheads will agree this is a masterpiece.

This album is basically Opeth's dad. It features the main acoustic and soft sections combined with the heavy death metal all around the album. The title track and single song is split into eight movements, telling the story of a dying society where people can't have children anymore. This is their best album and a true testament for Death Metal, it's highly influential and provided its genre a new trend that would become popularized with the well-known Opeth.

A very essential record for Death Metal And a very strong and solid record in general, Edge Of Sanity's Crimson is a five star effort.

This record is objectively five stars, it's an essential record for death metal and it completely changed the way people looked at death metal. A new ocean of possibilities opened for metal, the capability of merging the crushing riffs and brutal growls of death metal with the soft vocals and acoustic breaks of progressive rock.

The whole album is one song, divided into eight movements. The song is a constantly changing and dynamic work that keeps you entertained from beginning to end, it's a marvel for melodic death metal fans.

It's for sure one of my favorite death metal records, and an essential work for death metal. Gotta be five stars.

Don't like this band, but this is one of the most influential records of its genre. It was one of the first to blend death metal with progressive rock, and manage melodic death metal. The most noticeable fact is that the entire album is just the title track. This forty minute track goes from raw death metal to melodic sections with acoustic guitar. The vocals also go from growls to clean singing. This style of death metal influences bands like Opeth and most modern melodic death metal bands.

I respect this record for what it has done to its genre, and it's essential to death metal.

Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

Widely touted as a masterpiece, Crimson is Edge Of Sanity's cornerstone in their discography. It is also one of the most influential metal records of all time. It consists of one single forty minute track, divided across eight movements. This album can definitely be inaccessible, mostly because it's very continuous, unexpected and really heavy, which can turn some progressive rock fans off.

With that said, I still think it should be checked out by any progressive rock & metal fan, due to historical reasons and because it's simply an amazing and consistent album. Definitely a five star record.

I'm quite happy to see this album in here, considering how important it is to the progressive death metal movement. It's also quite understandable to see this is the only popular Edge Of Sanity album in here, because in my opinion it's their only good one.

Edge Of Sanity started as your typical death metal band. Blast beats, growls, and occasional clean vocals, but they were very few. Crimson was where they defined their sound (and most of melodic death metal's), where clean vocals and acoustic passages were used just as much as the death metal aspects. After Crimson they, as you would expect, started to recycle the formula that worked so well in this album.

This album is one song, however it flows very well so it shouldn't be tedious to listen it from beginning to end. I'm giving this record five stars due to its historical importance and influence on the genre, in other words, it's essential.

Maybe the most ambitious death-metal album at least in concept, it also features cohesive songwriting, a number of styles ranging from mellow acoustic a la Opeth towards the sinister death metal. Akerfeldt's growling is another winning argument, his vocals are already at this point better than Swano despite being in the formative years. At this point of career, Akerfeldt had a black-metal higher-pitched style than the death-metal deeper growl features from 1998. Listen also to the instrumental parts that easily abandon the death-metal cliche with slower more epic riffing.

While there may not be multiple surfaces in the music like in a typical prog-metal or rock music, there are so many shifts in the dynamics and motives that it will take you many time to absorb and appreciate all. We can hear recurring hooks and the ending is epic with somewhat grandiose chord progressions and synths in the background.

No doubt it is one of the finest progressive death-metal releases of the 20th century (not so many candidates anyways ;))

Review #111!

'Crimson' is a great prog metal epic/album full of heavy guitar riffs and the occasional groovy, spacey interlude. Musically, this album is close to, if not perfect, but the vocals not so much. I am used to the tones of metal singers like Ozzy Osbourne, but I always took deep, grumbling death metal vocals as over-the-top and ridiculous. For an album within the prog sub-genre of 'Tech/Extreme Prog Metal', I would assume this would be more prominent. And it wasn't, so I'm satisfied. Dan Swano does a great job with both his 'normal' and growling vocals and he had perfected a blend of when to use either one. But back to the music. That drummer (Benny Larsson) sounds great too. He knows to lose his [&*!#] when the time is right and to melodically hit the high hats in the slower sections. The guitar is just amazing. Both Axelsson and Nerberg have achieved the perfect blend of technical and groovy (cause sometimes it's hard to have both). This is a great album, and I think I would probably recommend it to any fan of death metal (cause I don't like death metal but I loved this). Prog on.