I'm finally getting the Edge Of Sanity back catalog in stock here at C-Blast, after being almost impossible to obtain for years without paying insane import prices. The Black Mark titles from this pioneering progressive death metal band are all essential for fans of both Swedish death metal and prog-death, with some albums (Crimson, The Spectral Sorrows, Unorthodox) ranking as some of my own favorite progressive extreme metal albums of all time. This was, of course, the most well-known band from Swedish metal polyglot Dan Swano, formed after his run with Pan-Thy-Monium as a crushing entry in the evolving Swedish death metal underground. After a relatively straightforward 1991 debut, Edge Of Sanity quickly began to experiment with a combination of prog rock, hard rock and gothic influences being infused into the band's monstrous death metal, and in the process produced some of the most adventurous extreme metal to come out of the Swedish underground.

The double Lp collection of Edge Of Sanity's Crimson series has finally been re-issued by Black Mark, once again making these classic slabs of conceptual sci-fi prog-death available again to vinyl enthusiasts in gatefold packaging and pressed on 180 gram colored vinyl.

Edge Of Sanity's first entry in their planned concept series, 1996's Crimson is both a portent of the sort of epic melodic death metal that would dominate Sweden's heavy exports at the end of the 1990s, and one of the most ambitious albums to emerge from this scene. Centered around a distant-future apocalyptic storyline that almost feels like something that could have sprung from the pen of Frank Herbert, and featuring a single forty minute song made up of numerous distinct "movements" (each one sequenced as a distinct track, but flowing together seamlessly as one piece) Crimson captures Dan Swano at his most imaginative as he guides the band through a constantly shifting array of crushing death metal, melancholy passages of acoustic guitar and doleful piano, sudden ascents into sweeping kosmische synth ambience, even slipping into these killer metallic goth rock parts that sounds like a heavier, thrash-tinged Sisters Of Mercy (something that Swano had shown us previously with the song "Sacrificed" on 1993's The Spectral Sorrows ). The song (a kind of mini prog-metal symphony, really) veers from monstrous breakdowns laced with strange Middle Eastern guitar melodies and blastbeat-driven intensity into brief passages of grungy melodic rock, moments of spine-crushing doom metal heaviosity, soaring instrumental sections, and forays into an almost Goblin-esque dark prog rock sound. The album is filled with these abrupt breakneck shifts from the mellower progressive rock sections into pure death metal, and when the band is at its heaviest, the crushing riffage is as brutal as anything the band ever produced. And for any of you Opeth fans, Crimson also features a guest appearance from Mikael �kerfeldt, who lends his growling voice and guitar leads to parts of the album.

One of the best albums to ever combine that Swedish melodic death metal sound with serious prog rock influences, Crimson II was the second installment in an ambitious duology, and would also become the final Edge Of Sanity release with Swano basically recording the album solo, aided by a crew of guest musicians that included members of Mercyful Fate, The Project Hate MCMXCIX, Insision, and Abstrakt Algebra. In addition, the complex lyrical fantasies were entirely written by Clive Nolan, member of British prog rock bands Arena and Pendragon. This single forty-three minute, album-length composition is divided into nine movements, modeled after the kind of sprawling prog rock opuses that Swano had obviously been devouring throughout the 90s. The album begins with swells of classical strings before tearing into the hooky, galloping death metal of "I - The Forbidden Words", where the complex melodic riffs and sweeping synthesizers start coming fast. The band drops some massive death n' roll in here, some of this melodic, anthemic metal rivaling the catchiest In Flames stuff. They weave through chunky, sludgy breakdowns and monstrous dirges splattered with awesome ELP/Yes-style prog synths, those omnipresent electronic elements threaded throughout the metallic heaviness. The band will drop out at times leaving just the sound of lush clean electric guitars and eerie arpeggios, then launch into soaring, spacey leads over lurching mathy grooves. Swano's penchant for moodier rock sounds is also in play, like the part on "III - Passage of Time" where he shifts seamlessly from dark, brooding prog with sung vocals into the crushing ultra-catchy death metal, only to follow that up with a soaring piano melody - its one of my favorite Edge Of Sanity moments, period. The album wraps with the classical strings and billowing black ambience of "Aftermath", closing this in a flourish of dark, forbidding atmosphere.

The Crimson series of albums is one of my favorite works within the realm of progressive death metal, and are absolutely essential listening for Swano fans. Highly recommended.