Edge of Sanity
Encyclopedia
Edge of Sanity was a Swedish
death metal
band. Edge of Sanity are regarded alongside Opeth
as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death
and black metal
with progressive rock
.
. Their second release Unorthodox
, with tracks like "Enigma" and "When All Is Said", showed them branching out from some of the genre's conventions. The Spectral Sorrows
, Until Eternity Ends
, and Purgatory Afterglow
continued the trend, so that by the release of 1996's Crimson
they were a progressive metal
band. Crimson was a 40-minute concept album
consisting entirely of one track, concerning a post-apocalyptic future in which mankind had lost the ability to breed. After one more album, 1997's Infernal, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dan Swanö
left the band, and his departure is generally associated with a decline in quality in the band's material. Swanö was replaced by Robert Karlsson, the vocalist of Pan.Thy.Monium
(a side project in which Swanö was also involved), but after one more album, Cryptic
, the band split up.
In 2003, Swanö revived the outfit as a one-man band (with several session musicians), and recorded a sequel to Crimson, Crimson II
. Immediately after, he re-dissolved the project.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band. Edge of Sanity are regarded alongside Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
and black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
with progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
.
History
Edge of Sanity began as a death metal band with their debut release Nothing But Death RemainsNothing But Death Remains
Nothing But Death Remains is the first studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Productions on July 9, 1991...
. Their second release Unorthodox
Unorthodox (album)
Unorthodox is the second full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity. It was recorded in between December 1991 and January 1992 with Tomas Skogsberg and released by Black Mark Records on July 8, 1992.-Track listing:...
, with tracks like "Enigma" and "When All Is Said", showed them branching out from some of the genre's conventions. The Spectral Sorrows
The Spectral Sorrows
The Spectral Sorrows is the third full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band, Edge of Sanity, recorded by Börje Forsberg in July–August 1993 and released by Black Mark Productions in 1993.-Track listing:...
, Until Eternity Ends
Until Eternity Ends
Until Eternity Ends is the first and only EP by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Productions in 1994. There are two versions of this CD, one has a blue and yellow cover in a standard CD box and the other has a red and black cover in a slim-line single box...
, and Purgatory Afterglow
Purgatory Afterglow
Purgatory Afterglow is the fourth full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity. The album was recorded by Dan Swanö in Unisound Studios, Örebro, Sweden in July 1994 and released in 1994 by Black Mark Productions. Purgatory Afterglow is dedicated to the loving memory of...
continued the trend, so that by the release of 1996's Crimson
Crimson (Edge of Sanity album)
Crimson is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, which is their first concept album and was released in 1996 by Black Mark Productions...
they were a progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
band. Crimson was a 40-minute concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
consisting entirely of one track, concerning a post-apocalyptic future in which mankind had lost the ability to breed. After one more album, 1997's Infernal, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
left the band, and his departure is generally associated with a decline in quality in the band's material. Swanö was replaced by Robert Karlsson, the vocalist of Pan.Thy.Monium
Pan.Thy.Monium
Pan.Thy.Monium was a Swedish avant-garde metal band formed and led by Dan Swanö with several members from another project of his, Edge of Sanity...
(a side project in which Swanö was also involved), but after one more album, Cryptic
Cryptic (album)
Cryptic is the seventh full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released on December 1, 1997 by Black Mark Productions. It is the only Edge of Sanity album in which Dan Swanö does not contribute...
, the band split up.
In 2003, Swanö revived the outfit as a one-man band (with several session musicians), and recorded a sequel to Crimson, Crimson II
Crimson II
- Credits :* Dan Swanö − vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, animal sounds, music composition, production, mixing & engineeringGuests* Roger Johansson − lead death growl* Jonas Granvik − Backing death growl* Mike Wead − lead guitar & engineering...
. Immediately after, he re-dissolved the project.
Last lineup
- Dan SwanöDan SwanöDan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
– vocals (1989–1997, 2003), pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(1992–1993, 1997), keyboardsElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
(1994–1996, 2003), guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
(1994–1997, 2003), bass (1997, 2003), drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2003)
Previous members
- Andreas Axelsson − guitar (1989–1999), vocals (1997)
- Sami Nerberg − guitar (1989–1999)
- Anders Lindberg − bass (1989–1999)
- Benny Larsson − drums (1989–1999)
- Robert Karlsson − vocals (1997–1999)
Albums
- Nothing But Death RemainsNothing But Death RemainsNothing But Death Remains is the first studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Productions on July 9, 1991...
(1991) - UnorthodoxUnorthodox (album)Unorthodox is the second full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity. It was recorded in between December 1991 and January 1992 with Tomas Skogsberg and released by Black Mark Records on July 8, 1992.-Track listing:...
(1992) - The Spectral SorrowsThe Spectral SorrowsThe Spectral Sorrows is the third full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band, Edge of Sanity, recorded by Börje Forsberg in July–August 1993 and released by Black Mark Productions in 1993.-Track listing:...
(1993) - Purgatory AfterglowPurgatory AfterglowPurgatory Afterglow is the fourth full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity. The album was recorded by Dan Swanö in Unisound Studios, Örebro, Sweden in July 1994 and released in 1994 by Black Mark Productions. Purgatory Afterglow is dedicated to the loving memory of...
(1994) - CrimsonCrimson (Edge of Sanity album)Crimson is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, which is their first concept album and was released in 1996 by Black Mark Productions...
(1996) - Infernal (1997)
- CrypticCryptic (album)Cryptic is the seventh full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released on December 1, 1997 by Black Mark Productions. It is the only Edge of Sanity album in which Dan Swanö does not contribute...
(1997) - Crimson IICrimson II- Credits :* Dan Swanö − vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, animal sounds, music composition, production, mixing & engineeringGuests* Roger Johansson − lead death growl* Jonas Granvik − Backing death growl* Mike Wead − lead guitar & engineering...
(2003)
Demos and EPs
- Euthanasia (demo) (1989)
- Kur-Nu-Gi-A (demo) (1990)
- The Dead (demo) (1990)
- The Immortal Rehearsals (demo) (1990)
- Dead but Dreaming (demo) (1992)
- Darkday (promotional demo) (1993)
- Lost (demo) (1993)
- The Spectral Sorrows Demos (demo) (1993)
- Until Eternity EndsUntil Eternity EndsUntil Eternity Ends is the first and only EP by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Productions in 1994. There are two versions of this CD, one has a blue and yellow cover in a standard CD box and the other has a red and black cover in a slim-line single box...
(EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
) (1994) - Infernal Demos (demo) (1996)
Compilations
- EvolutionEvolution (Edge of Sanity album)Evolution is a best of compilation album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Productions on November 29, 1999...
(1999) - When All Is SaidWhen All Is SaidWhen All Is Said is a remastered best of compilation album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Productions on October 2, 2006. On the promotional poster released by Black Mark Productions, it reads: "Very remastered by Dan Swanö". On the album cover are...
(2006)
Videos
- "Black Tears" (1994) from Purgatory Afterglow
- "Uncontroll Me" (1997) from Cryptic
- Live in Norrköping 1991