Edge of Sanity

This article is about the band. For the film, see Edge of Sanity (film).

Edge of Sanity was a Swedish death metal band that, alongside Opeth, is commonly regarded as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death and black metal with progressive rock. The group was founded by Dan Swanö in 1989 and ended in 2003.

Edge of Sanity
Dan Swanö
Background information
Origin	Finspång, Sweden
Genres	Melodic death metal, progressive death metal, death metal (early)
Years active	1989–1999, 2003
Labels	Black Mark
Past members	Dan Swanö Andreas Axelsson Sami Nerberg Anders Lindberg Benny Larsson Robert Karlsson

History

Edge of Sanity began as a death metal band with their debut release Nothing but Death Remains. The band's second release, Unorthodox, with tracks like "Enigma" and "When All Is Said", showed Edge of Sanity branching out from some of the genre's conventions. The Spectral Sorrows, Until Eternity Ends, and Purgatory Afterglow continued the trend, so that by the release of Crimson (1996), Edge of Sanity was a progressive metal band. Crimson was a 40-minute concept album consisting entirely of one track, concerning a post-apocalyptic future in which mankind had lost the ability to breed. After one more album, Infernal (1997), guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dan Swanö left Edge of Sanity, and his departure is generally associated with a decline in quality in the band's material. Swanö was replaced by Robert Karlsson, the vocalist of Pan.Thy.Monium (a side project in which Swanö was also involved), but after one more album, Cryptic, the band split up.

In 2003, Swanö revived the outfit as a one-man band (with several session musicians), and recorded a sequel to Crimson, Crimson II. Immediately after, he re-dissolved the project.

The Kur-Nu-Gi-A demo was re-released on LP in 2011, and on CD in 2012.

In the spring of 2024, Century Media Records and InsideOutMusic revealed plans to launch the first chapter of an extensive reissue campaign for Edge Of Sanity's catalogue. These definitive reissues were remastered by Swanö. In June 2024, a video was shared featuring the remastered version of Black Tears, from the band's 1994 album Purgatory Afterglow.

Members

Final line-up

• Dan Swanö – vocals (1989–1997, 2003), keyboards, piano (1991–1997, 2003), guitar (1994–1997, 2003), bass (1997, 2003), drums (2003)
• Andreas Axelsson − guitar (1989–1999, 2003), vocals (1997)

Previous members

• Sami Nerberg − guitar (1989–1999)
• Anders Lindberg − bass (1989–1999)
• Benny Larsson − drums (1989–1999)
• Robert Karlsson − vocals (1997–1999)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

• Nothing but Death Remains (1991)
• Unorthodox (1992)
• The Spectral Sorrows (1993)
• Purgatory Afterglow (1994)
• Crimson (1996)
• Infernal (1997)
• Cryptic (1997)
• Crimson II (2003)

EPs

• Until Eternity Ends (EP, 1994)

Demos

• Euthanasia (1989)
• Kur-Nu-Gi-A (1990)
• The Dead (1990)
• The Immortal Rehearsals (1990)
• Dead but Dreaming (1992)
• Darkday (1993)
• Lost (1993)
• The Spectral Sorrows Demos (1993)
• Infernal Demos (1996)

Compilations

• Evolution (1999)
• When All Is Said (2006)

Videos

• "Black Tears" (1994) from Purgatory Afterglow
• "Uncontroll Me" (1997) from Cryptic
• Live in Norrköping 1991

External links

• Black Mark Records
• Website