When Dan Swano, the mastermind behind legendary Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, left the band in 1997 after the band's sixth studio album Infernal, few of us believed he would release another album under the EOS moniker. His solo effort (1998) was a true masterpiece in every sense of the word, but unfortunately it was the last album of Dan where he used his amazing death vocals. Now after five years, when he was approached to do a follow-up to Crimson 1 without the rest of the band, his initial plan was to sing with his clean vocals. He hadn't growled in years, and he wasn't intending to, until the last minute. It was a great surprise, because I happen to think he is one of the greatest death metal vocalists of the decade.
As well all know Crimson 1 (1996) was one of the most important achievements in the history of death metal. With its 40+ minute running time, lyrically focusing on every kind of destruction from art to God to ideas, it literally breathed new life into the overblown genre. The band released a poor follow-up to Infernal with a different singer and it resulted in misery. It was like Death was releasing a new album without Chuck Shuldiner. So now we have Dan Swano on his own. He is offering us his OWN version of Edge of Sanity, making the music that represents him the best!
Crimson II picks up where its predecessor left off. It just takes a different path musically to express itself. This is 100% Dan Swano, the compositions borrow elements from 70's prog rock which is indispensibale to Dan's musical vision. The album tends to sound like Moontower in some points, but still has the classic Edge of Sanity stamp all over it. The amazing riffing, rich melodies, opaque lyrics, angry vocals, great musicianship--everything.
The main difference between C1 and C2 is, like the other reviewers have pointed out, the use of keyboards and synths. Dan has successfully integrated his proggy roots from Moontower into the classic EOS sound. I'm personally very pleased to hear a totally different album that gives its messages in a very unorthodox way to the listener. The keys have actually improved the music. Besides using his death and clean vocals, Dan plays all the drums, bass and keys as well. His vocals sound amazing. As opposed to expressing single-minded fury, his delivery -especially his clean singing- sounds very sorrowful and heartfelt.
Guitar virtuoso Matthias IA Eklundh from Freak Kitchen was originally supposed to play on Crimson II, but there was a sudden change of plans in the last minute, as in Dan's adapting the growls. So we have Simon Johannson (Memory Garden) and the amazing Mike Wead (Candlemass, King Diamond, Hexenhaus) on lead guitars. Another thing that sets this CD apart from part one is the guitar solos. Wead's somewhat bluesy solos offer new life to the album. The other two vocalists Jonas Granvik and Roger Johansson do an awesome job complenting the vocal melodies. Since their voices have their own characteristics the vocals on the album are audibly more varied in texture. There would have been no novelty if Dan had worked with Mikael Akerfeldt again. He's been there, and it was amazing, and since Dan is about pushing the envelope of the form, never repeating his previous works, he has chosen different singers to accompany him. And, to me, they sound like perfect choices.
Unlike part one, Crimson II has a total of 43 tracks. While it is one long song clocking in at over 43 minutes, they have divided the song into many tracks lest, we, the listeners, can fast forward to our favourite spots easier. On part one, we had to hold the forward button pressed for quite some time to reach, say, the 25th minute of the epic.
Overall I consider Crimson II to be the best death metal album of 2003 and I am absolutely delighted that Dan has released one last album under his well-established ex-band Edge of Sanity. He says this is definitely the last EOS album, but we can always dream, can't we?
Last but not least, if you surfed onto this page because you are a fan of Dan's softer music (Nightingale, Unicorn, Star One) and are not fond of death vocals, let me suggest you this: when you start saying that something is bad, you may be cutting yourself off to something that may help you become a better music listener or give you better expression. C2 is definitely a must have for any Swano fan. It is experimental, cerebral, passionate, complex, fiery, and progressive death metal in a 100% Dan Swano way. Highly recommended!
Track Listing
- The Forbidden Words
- Incantation
- Passage of Time
- The Silent Threat
- Achilles Heel
- Covenant of Souls
- Face to Face
- Disintegration
- Aftermath
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