Edge of Sanity was a Swedish
death metal band that, alongside
Opeth, is commonly regarded as being the first to fuse
extreme metal styles like
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
and
black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...
with
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
. The group was founded by
Dan Swanö in 1989 and ended in 2003.
History
Edge of Sanity began as a death metal band with their debut release ''
Nothing but Death Remains''. The band's second release, ''
Unorthodox'', with tracks like "Enigma" and "When All Is Said", showed Edge of Sanity 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 ''
Crimson'' (1996), Edge of Sanity was a
progressive metal
Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...
band. ''Crimson'' was a 40-minute
concept album consisting entirely of one track, concerning a
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
future in which mankind had lost the ability to breed. After one more album, ''
Infernal'' (1997), guitarist/vocalist/songwriter
Dan Swanö left Edge of Sanity, 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 popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style.
Usually these projects emphasize ...
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
''Crimson II'' is the eighth and final full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity and is a continuation of the storyline first heard on the album ''Crimson'' (1996). It is the only Edge of Sanity release that does not fe ...
''. Immediately after, he re-dissolved the project.
The ''Kur-Nu-Gi-A'' demo was re-released on LP in 2011, and on CD in 2012.
Members
Final line-up
*
Dan Swanö –
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
(1989–1997, 2003),
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
(1991–1996, 2003),
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
(1992–1993, 1997),
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
(1994–1997, 2003),
bass (1997, 2003),
drums (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)
Timeline
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id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion
id:multi value:yellow legend:All_instruments
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Discography
Albums
* ''
Nothing but Death Remains'' (1991)
* ''
Unorthodox'' (1992)
* ''
The Spectral Sorrows'' (1993)
* ''
Purgatory Afterglow'' (1994)
* ''
Crimson'' (1996)
* ''
Infernal'' (1997)
* ''
Cryptic'' (1997)
* ''
Crimson II
''Crimson II'' is the eighth and final full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity and is a continuation of the storyline first heard on the album ''Crimson'' (1996). It is the only Edge of Sanity release that does not fe ...
'' (2003)
EPs
* ''
Until Eternity Ends'' (
EP, 1994)
Demos
* ''Euthanasia'' (1989)
* ''Kur-Nu-Gi-A'' (1990)
* ''The Dead'' (1990)
* ''The Immortal Rehearsals'' (1990)
* ''Dead but Dreaming'' (1992)
* ''Darkday'' (1993)
* ''Lost'' (1993)
* ''The Spectral Sorrows Demos'' (1993)
* ''Infernal Demos'' (1996)
Compilations
* ''
Evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
'' (1999)
* ''
When All Is Said
''When All Is Said'' is a remastered best of compilation album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Production on October 2, 2006. On the promotional poster released by Black Mark Production, it reads: "Very remas ...
'' (2006)
Videos
* "Black Tears" (1994) from ''Purgatory Afterglow''
* "Uncontroll Me" (1997) from ''Cryptic''
* ''Live in Norrköping 1991''
External links
Black Mark RecordsWebsite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edge Of Sanity
Swedish progressive metal musical groups
Swedish melodic death metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2003
Black Mark Production artists