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Edge Of Sanity - Crimson II review



Reviewer:
9.5

516 users:
8.78
Band: Edge Of Sanity
Album: Crimson II
Release date: August 2003


01. Crimson II
    1 - I - The Forbidden Words
    2 - II - Incantation
    3 - III - Passage Of Time
    4 - IV - The Silent Threat
    5 - V - Achilles Heel
    6 - VI - Covenant Of Souls
    7 - VII - Face To Face
    8 - VIII - Disintegration
    9 - IX - Aftermath

Dan Swanö returns with his dreadful crimson queen, and of course, Edge Of Sanity , don't think this is a Edge Of Sanity reunion, because is not, no past members are involved in this project, and practically all instruments and vocals duties are handled by Mr. Swanö.
This time the setting is a little less wider, is a convent, were a nun reads the unholy book that can freed the evil queen from her sleep, and once again, make the world bow to her.

The music has changed a bit too, the sound of this Crimson II is much more epic, relying more in the use of keyboards, guitar solos, and harmonies. All of this combined with Dan's fantastic growling makes this a fantastic album, and just like the first Crimson, an instant classic.

Now that we speak of the first Crimson, this second one, as the past one, is only one song that lasts more than 40 minutes, but unlike the previous, this one is divided in 44 little fragments that intertwine with each other, all of this songs is divided in nine sections, here's the organization, in case your wandering:

01. Crimson II
I - The Forbidden Words
II - Incantation
III - Passage Of Time
IV - The Silent Threat
V - Achilles Heel
VI - Covenant Of Souls
VII - Face To Face
VIII - Disintegration
IX - Aftermath

So, got it? one big song, divided into 9 sections, subdivided into 44 small parts.

Enough, anyway, let's go by sections, first of all the cover art is wonderful (done by Kristian Wåhlin) and so is the booklet, (not to insult that classic, but the cover from the first Crimson sucks!), the production is top-notch, the sound is crisp and thigh yet very heavy, Dan produced this himself, so we know it's a fine piece of work from the get-go.

Crimson II have a wide variety of ideas and moods, you have melodic parts, some more soothing parts with clean vocals included, and fantastic keyboard use, not to mention the guitar solos. The sudden tempo changes in some parts of the album does nothing more but prove once again the brilliance of Dan Swanö, what a great creative songwriter.

I could go hour describing every inch of the album, but is better to leave some stones unturned, so the listener can discover these little idiosyncrasies that make Crimson II so good. A must-have in the collection of any decent fan of Death Metal, the question is, shall future bring Crimson III some day? Only the evil queen knows for sure?.

Written by Undercraft | 01.04.2004




Comments

Comments: 14   Visited by: 409 users
10.06.2006 - 02:37
Daru Jericho

This is my current favourite EOS album. It's great for a single man's effort. My favourite track is probably The Silent Threat. The beginning (the opening riff may drag out a bit too long) is what drew me in.

Good prog death. Highly recommended.
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Aborted Misanthropic Smurf Puppy On Acid.

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03.08.2006 - 21:32
Rating: 6
Lucas
Mr. Noise
Great album, first I heard from them. A pleasant meeting, I'd say!
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SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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11.12.2006 - 02:27
Rating: 8
Rupert

A fine album indeed. It's hard to think that the entire thing was just one person.
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30.01.2007 - 17:48
DeadEternity
Account deleted
This is definitely a must have for Death Metal fans, I agree. It is a very worthy sequel to the original - more melodic which I like. The Incantation and Disintegration sections are my favorite on the disc.
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30.01.2007 - 20:12
Rating: 6
Lucas
Mr. Noise
It got quite boring after some time, I rarely listen to it nowadays.
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SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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31.01.2007 - 17:43
Sunioj

Written by Lucas on 30.01.2007 at 20:12

It got quite boring after some time, I rarely listen to it nowadays.


It was great when I first listened to it, its still a great album but my only complaint is that tracks are organized in a unusable fashion and the two main riffs are repeated throughout the albums. But overall, its a great listening experience when in the mood. I give it an 8.
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16.02.2008 - 15:14
Rating: 9
Snockis

I - The Forbidden Words
II - Incantation
III - Passage Of Time
IV - The Silent Threat
V - Achilles Heel
VI - Covenant Of Souls
VII - Face To Face
VIII - Disintegration
IX - Aftermath

Any one know which track belongs to which "chapter" come on, it's divided to 44 songs, some help would be wounderful.
Well, gotta say, even though I'm not so much into this kind of genera, I really like this album.
Wounderful guitars and growls that fits in a harmonic way.
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16.02.2008 - 15:16
Rating: 6
Lucas
Mr. Noise
Written by Snockis on 16.02.2008 at 15:14

Any one know which track belongs to which "chapter" come on, it's divided to 44 songs, some help would be wounderful.


Check their Metal Archives page on it, they claim to know it.
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SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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07.04.2008 - 14:34
Rating: 8
ylside

A pale imitation of Crimson I ... same riffs, same everything. More of a deception actually.

Maybe it's supposed to be leitmotifs, but even with that I can't listen to it without frowning!
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06.03.2009 - 20:13
Rating: 10
XAV_METALOGIST

Written by ylside on 07.04.2008 at 14:34

A pale imitation of Crimson I ... same riffs, same everything. More of a deception actually.

Maybe it's supposed to be leitmotifs, but even with that I can't listen to it without frowning!
That's Not A Pale imitation of crimson its a Medley of the better riffs in crimson modified into a beautiful music .. and that was the idea of swäno when he wrote the album .. Listen to it one more time maybe your appreciation will be better , i didn't love crimson II first time i heard to it ,it took a few times to appreciate
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12.05.2009 - 23:27
Stalker
Lone wanderer
Well, now having listened to it quite a bit times, Im growing to like it more, but my opinion is that original Crimson is way better, and much more interesting. And yeah, one more thing, Ive noticed that drums in Crimson II are rather boring, even the sound is drum-machine like...
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29.08.2010 - 09:18
Rating: 10
INÆRIS

This album is exhilarating. Superb quality music, like the first Crimson, but with better production. It's really difficult to get tired of listening to this record! Swano is a true music hero.
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Still Life, Still Death
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26.08.2016 - 22:10
Rating: 9
BlankFile

Almost as good as the first one.

Amazing release.
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29.10.2022 - 15:27
Rating: 8
ylside

Written by XAV_METALOGIST on 06.03.2009 at 20:13

Written by ylside on 07.04.2008 at 14:34

A pale imitation of Crimson I ... same riffs, same everything. More of a deception actually.

Maybe it's supposed to be leitmotifs, but even with that I can't listen to it without frowning!
That's Not A Pale imitation of crimson its a Medley of the better riffs in crimson modified into a beautiful music .. and that was the idea of swäno when he wrote the album .. Listen to it one more time maybe your appreciation will be better , i didn't love crimson II first time i heard to it ,it took a few times to appreciate


Yeah you're right, I changed my mind, 14 years later. I listen a lot to "Aftermath" lately.
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