Band:	Edge Of Sanity
Album:	Crimson II
Style:	Progressive death metal
Release date:	August 26, 2003
A review by:	Undercraft

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?.