Where to begin, where to begin? When Dan Swanö said that he wasn't going to do metal anymore, I didn't care so much, because everything the guy touches is pure fucking gold, no matter what genre it falls under. But of course, as soon as I heard about this record being underway, I was thrilled. "Crimson" is one of my favorite records of all time, and there's no way Edge of Sanity will ever be able to top the mastery of that album, but there's also no way that the sequel to such a masterpiece could be anything but amazing, and sure enough, "Crimson II" is just that. Swanö himself takes care of pretty much everything on this album sans lead guitars, and two other contributors are credited with lead growling vocals, so I'm not sure how those are split - clearly Swanö does the singing, but he's also credited with growling vocals, and most of the growls are reminiscent of his own... so I assume he handled the bulk of the vocal duties, too. And some of the leads are straight out of the Nightingale handbook, so Swanö leaves no stone unturned. Like the original "Crimson", "Crimson II" is one 43-minute track, this time divided into nine portions, though oddly the CD itself is broken in 44 individual tracks (none breaking two minutes), and the lyrics don't designate any separation between the different segments at all. That leaves me unclear as to why the segments/divisions exist, but nonetheless, this is an epic masterpiece of technical, melodic, progressive death metal. Really this has almost as much in common with "Moontower" as it does with "Crimson" - what with the tactful uses of keyboards all over the place. But the writing here is pretty god damn complex, with riff changes too numerous to keep track of, countless shifts in tempo and atmosphere, reprised riffs both within the song and as reinterpretations of riffs from the first "Crimson" album, etc. My only minute issues with the disc are that the writing can be jumbled due to the excessive amount of riffs and changes, and I would absolutely like to hear more singing vocals, as Swanö's singing voice is stellar, and those vocals really add to the diversity of the work. It seems to me that Swanö's playing abilities have taken a major leap forward, though... Don't get me wrong, he's always been incredible, but unless he's been hiding some of his talents, his drumming and rhythm guitar skills have improved significantly - becoming tighter, more intricate, etc. The production is pretty good. The drums are on the rigid side and can stand aside from the other instrumentation, but I'm not that bothered by it. As with the writing, the mix can be jumbled due to tons of layering and details going on at once, but overall I think it sounds great - especially considering that the vast majority of it was all performed by one person! The CD comes in a glossy full color digipack with some nice paintings used for the artwork (in a very old school metal sense - it's rare to see record covers like this anymore). The digipack goes to waste a bit as the inner panels simply repeat close-up images of the cover art along with the credits and an Edge of Sanity discography - all of which is duplicated in the booklet along with extensive lyrics (written by Clive Nolan, not Swanö). The lyrics read more like a short play or something: Five-and-a-half pages of continuous little text that tells the tale of the record. "Oh, willing host who doth not know, The full desire of this prisoner, You walk where angels fear to go, Thou shalt soon embrace the reckoner, Thy halo of glory, hope's true gage, May prove to be an evil pilgrimage..." I'm honestly not at all interested in the storytelling of the lyrics as there's no personal connection to be made with this style of concept album, so this disc is all about the music for me. And musically, this is an astounding record. If you've heard any of Swanö's work, you should have an idea of what to expect, but at the same time, this is a lot more involved and less immediate than many of his past releases, so it takes several listens to sink in. But I love it. This is absolutely crucial for Edge of Sanity fans...
[Black Mark]
Running time - 42:38, Tracks: 1
[Notable tracks: there's only one and it rules]
Black Mark - http://www.blackmark.net
