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Edge Of Sanity - Crimson review



Reviewer:
9.0

968 users:
9.13
Band: Edge Of Sanity
Album: Crimson
Release date: April 1996


01. Crimson
02. Murder. Divided. [Japanese bonus]

I was really surprised to see that this outstanding album didn't have any reviews here. In an effort to make that right, lets start. What we have here is an album that consists of only one, 40 minute long song. For those who are not familiar with Crimson yet, don't be afraid. Songs over 10 minutes long are not so uncommon in metal, but even the most progressive of bands often fall into the trap of making them too dull and not really enjoyable after first few minutes - the story about Crimson Queen is definitely not.

The reason for this is the diversity of musical landscapes in this song. Starting with the sound of heavy distortion in extremely low tuning, you will hear fast death riffs, march-like passages, clean sections, with Dan Swanö's powerful growls and clean voice too, and supported by additional vocal and guitar work from Mikael Åkerfeldt. This masterpiece will surely hold your attention long enough to enjoy this work completely. The music itself cant be easily labelled (although there is no need to do that), everything you will hear is very original. You cant really compare it to some unrelated songs or styles without ripping it apart to at least 20 different sections. Musically, whole spectrum of moods and paces, ranging from aggressive riffs and growls to soothing and "hypnotic" parts is present, yet everything fits in perfectly, there are no "fillers" or unnecessary inserts.

Challenging both musically and lyrically, Crimson not only meets expectations, it exceeds them greatly. If you have a 40 minutes long song, with lyrics that have no chorus or any significant repeating whatsoever, it must be the result of powerful inspiration and skilful song writing. The story takes us to a world in the distant future, Earth where humanity is sentenced to extinction because women only give birth to men. In this time, a female child is born to the King and Queen, and people see that as a sign of salvation, but she later falls under the influence of evil forces and gains magical powers. Supported by the people who expect her to save civilization, she begins ruling the earth. Eventually, she misleads them, forcing them to blind her and put her in a container of crimson fluid.

No need to talk about the performance, if you are familiar with the lineup, the undisputed quality is there, except maybe in sound, which isn't all that great, but not bad at all either. Anyway, if you didn't have the chance to hear this masterpiece so far, and if you are a fan of extreme and progressive music, do it because you wont regret it.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 10
Originality: 10
Production: 7

Written by Stalker | 24.06.2009




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 13   Visited by: 446 users
25.06.2009 - 11:36
Khaldi

Quote:
I was really surprised to see that this outstanding album didn't have any reviews here.


it is well said , me too wondered . Great album !!
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Urartu is a NeoHittite and ProtoArmenian kingdom !!
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25.06.2009 - 17:26
Rating: 10
XAV_METALOGIST

One of the best in my collection
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25.06.2009 - 17:37
Rating: 10
Elio
Red Nightmare
Yeah, I discovered this album recently, one of my favourite piece of music ever. Good review, mate.
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IntoPlighT said: "Slipknot is 15 years old how the fuck is that Nu metal?"

BEST. QUOTE. EVER.
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25.06.2009 - 18:12
Rating: 9
Stalker
Lone wanderer
Written by Elio on 25.06.2009 at 17:37

Yeah, I discovered this album recently, one of my favourite piece of music ever. Good review, mate.

Thanks. Well, I wrote it all right on the webpage, because I was planning to write it already few months ago. It would probably be better if I had written it more carefully, but I just wanted to make a review for those who arent familiar with the album yet, to have some introduction at least.
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27.06.2009 - 22:40
chematss

Nice review... ( I'd give it a 10 though )

I'm obsessed with the lyrics.. They are like a poem or an epic story..
Now I'm going to listen to this masterpiece -I guess- (after a long time)

edit: Just relistened to it and I think it deserves an 123445666788 out of 10. seriously!!

Seems like I'm in Swanö mood again.
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30.06.2009 - 14:26
Velvet Thorns

A Masterpiece Created by Titans

lately i was listening to Diabolical Masquerade... they are not of this world!

@chematss:: Seems like I'm in the Swanö mood all the time :}
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restless oblivion forever
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15.05.2010 - 12:43
Rating: 10
Bigpaul

The remastered version on the When All Is Said compilation improved the sound quite a bit. A must have for prog death fans.
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29.08.2010 - 09:11
Rating: 10
INÆRIS

Written by Velvet Thorns on 30.06.2009 at 14:26

A Masterpiece Created by Titans

lately i was listening to Diabolical Masquerade... they are not of this world!

@chematss:: Seems like I'm in the Swanö mood all the time :}

I completely agree. This record is monumental, and Diabolical Masquerade is one of the best projects I've heard in a long time. I like Nightwork the best.
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Still Life, Still Death
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16.05.2011 - 23:33
Beastofmetal456
Account deleted
Insanely great. Didn't feel bored for 1 second. Magical music.
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15.10.2011 - 21:26
Frost Beast
Account deleted
Great review. This is a masterpiece.
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29.07.2012 - 19:46
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Opeth fan on 29.01.2011 at 21:29

I'm listening to this for the first time because of your post and this website in general. Being a big Opeth fan this is a must have knowing akerfeldt is a part of it. I'll have to check out Diabolical Masquerade now as well. Okay after 23 minutes in it just plain kicks some serious ass!!!!

Yet you gave it a 3 in the album ratings, and all their other albums a 1. Did the band run over your dog or something?
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26.08.2016 - 22:10
Rating: 9
BlankFile

Spectacular álbum.
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17.09.2019 - 20:43
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Well 10min and more songs are OK, I dont mind songs length unless its good, but well I better prefrer such album as grind core and jumping metal sings what are 40 secons and album has 70 songs on it
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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