Edge Of Sanity

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Originally started as a fairly straightforward Swedish death metal band, Edge of Sanity's first few albums gained them a following in metal circles. They gradually began to encorporate progressive influences into their music, thanks primarily to frontman Dan Swano (a veteran of neo-proggers Unicorn, and eventual founder of the more straightforward prog-metal outfit Nightingale), hitting their peak with 1996's Crimson.

I got in touch with Dan Swano for the story and some interesting news.
######################################################################################
Your biography has been covered in your 
ProgArchives profile so let's bypass the biography details. But which bands were 
you influenced by and why did you choose that name ?
The name Edge Of 
Sanity was an idea from the guitarists Andreas and Sami. 

They were both big horror movie fans and spent a fortune on bad VHS copies 
of obscure Fulci and Romero movies.

I was always into shorter and more direct names. 

My previous bands were Ghost, Icarus, Unicorn..says it all... 

But In the earliest days were were far away from the brutal death metal 
that would later appear.

So for the material we put out in the beginning, the name worked because it 
was more Thrash oriented, and in Thrash the bands had sometimes less "evil" 
names....

and it also made us stick out a bit because all other Swedish bands had 
short, 1 word names. 

God knows what inspired us in the early days. 

Some of the riffs were called "Death riff", "Candlemass riff", "Voivod 
riff", "Pestilence riff" so I guess they were kind of important. 

Once we got sucked into the SweDeath scene, more unoriginal inspiration 
came into the picture, where we tried to compete with Entombed and C:o 

but after the "total death metal" era, we found inspiration in all kinds of 
music....

Your sound was very different from the likes of 
Dismember, Grave, Unleashed, Carnage and Nihilist/Entombed. Although I have 
noted you have now adopted their sound in Bloodbath. But why did Edge Of Sanity 
differ so much from the Swedish death metal sound ?

First of all, we 
formed in a little town called Finspång with around 20.000 people, and there was 
a handful of metalheads, and most of them thought Altars of Madness was "too 
brutal" when it first came out, so we played as brutal as we though a band could be, after hearing stuff like 
Pestilence, Slayer and Kreator etc.

but later on we jumped on the trend with the HM-2 pedal and tuned town to B 
and erased all the Thrash influences from the sound.. 

But since I have musical attention deficit disorder I also made sure that 
the songs were well arranged and kind of progressive in their structure. 

Experimenting with 5/8 and 7/8 beats, and just do stuff I never had heard 
on a brutal record, like the verse from Maze Of Existence, that go from super 
fast 2 beat to super doom back and forth....

we also arranged so that the 3 string instruments played different things 
rather than unison etc. 

That kind of stuff was still in the mix when we tried our best to be super 
evil Death metal as well...and that might have separated us a bit from the 
Stockholm bands.

This is an archive based interview also intended 
for the fans you get well after both you and I have passed away so let's go 
straight to your albums. Please give us your views/some words on your albums, 
starting with.......

The five demos from 1989 to 1992. Is there any 
chance you will compile them together onto a compilation album ?

Euthanasia The first demo, that was 
created more as a one/off project. Sounds pretty horrible. More of Thrash demo 
with a strangled monkey on vocals.

Immortal Rehearsal 
The second recording, not really a demo. Just threw up a few mikes in the 
rehearsalroom to check out our first songs a a proper band. Raw!!!

Kur-Nu-Gi-A The 
1st real demo. I recently had the pleasure to remix it and have it released on 
picture vinyl! A dream come true!! Really cool stuff...but still more of a 
DeathThrash thing.

The Dead Never 
thought of it as a demo, really. It was always called "Promo" because we had 
great label interest from Black mark around the time, and signed with them soon 
after it was done. Evil!!

Dead But Dreaming 
We were still with Black mark when it was done, and in many ways the 
reason why we got to make Unorthodox. Boss once told me that he had pretty much 
dropped us after the first 2 songs

because he felt 
we were heading in the wrong direction...but then he heard "When all is said" 
and it saved us for another bunch of records :)

Nothing But Death Remains from 1991

Some good songs. 
HORRIBLE MIX!! Which I could re-record half of it!! *** for the music * for the 
sound

Unorthodox from 1992

Our Sergeant Pepper 
:) One of the few albums I've made where the "vision" actually was fulfilled in 
the end. Kind of killed me a bit, because it felt like all I wanted to do with 
the genre had been done, and I didn't know what to do next. *****

Spectral Sorrows from 1993

...and 
that is what we did next. There is a few classic EOS style songs on here and a 
lot of bad padding. Sacrificed was totally off and made people react and check 
it out. But I guess it scared off a lot of Death heads as well. ***

Until Eternity Ends from 1994

Not bad at all. Not 
a big fan of "Bleed" myself, but the other stuff works for me still. ***

Purgatory Afterglow from 1994

One of my faves. 
There is a lot of nice material on here. Twilight is a real killer and apart 
from the dodgy mixjob (of mine) the album is really close to perfect. Well...the 
last track is kind of messed up...but it's also a lot because it lacks power in 
the mix... ****

Crimson from 1996

I would say that 80% 
of it is f**king amazing stuff. There are some passages there that I feel 
haven't aged that well...but some moments are true amazing...and the fact that 
it feels 20 minutes when you listen to it back to back is awesomeness!! ****

Infernal from 1997

I think a few of my 
songs are cool...the sound is not one of Tägtgrens finer moments. A testament of 
a band in pieces. **

Cryptic from 1997

No 
comments :)

Crimson II from 2003

Not even half as 
good as Crimson, but there are some kick ass riffing going on, but the sound and 
the drum-samples just turns me off every time.. It could have been a lot better 
if I had demoed it first...but it went pretty much straight from the head to the 
CD press ***

For those of us unknown with your music; how would 
you describe Edge Of Sanity's music ?

Powerful Metal with 
a Death-like twist.

How was the creative processes in your band from 
coming up with an idea to it's being recorded ?

In the early days we 
all spent out spare time riffing away and assembled the songs at our 
rehearsalspace. 

Around halfway thru TSS we started to write more and more alone or in 
pairs...

By the PA album I wrote 90% alone and showed them the songs as we recorded 
them..

Crimson was a group effort. We all sat in a circle facing each other 
(Except Benny that was in a booth far away...poor b*****d)

Crimson II was from 2003. Is this the final Edge 
Of Sanity album or what is the plans for the future ?

Well...the 
KUR-NU-GI-A demo is remixed and released...and my other plans is to clean up the 
archive and release some restored stuff like pre-productions and a live gig from 
Denmark that is pretty well recorded...

also a few songs from the roughmix of NBDR etc. etc.

If I get what I want, it's 2 CD's one called "You can't live forever...." 
and the 2nd "...but can you be dead forever?" 

To wrap up this interview, is there anything you 
want to add to this interview ?

Thanx 
for your interest in my stuff!! If you are curious about EOS, please feel free 
to buy the "When all is said" compilation. More bang for your buck is hard to 
find!!

Thank you to Dan for this interview

Their PA profile is here and their homepage(ish) is here

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
toroddfuglesteg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658	Topic: Edge Of Sanity Posted: September 23 2011 at 13:35
	Originally started as a fairly straightforward Swedish death metal band, Edge of Sanity's first few albums gained them a following in metal circles. They gradually began to encorporate progressive influences into their music, thanks primarily to frontman Dan Swano (a veteran of neo-proggers Unicorn, and eventual founder of the more straightforward prog-metal outfit Nightingale), hitting their peak with 1996's Crimson. I got in touch with Dan Swano for the story and some interesting news. ###################################################################################### Your biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's bypass the biography details. But which bands were you influenced by and why did you choose that name ? The name Edge Of Sanity was an idea from the guitarists Andreas and Sami. They were both big horror movie fans and spent a fortune on bad VHS copies of obscure Fulci and Romero movies. I was always into shorter and more direct names. My previous bands were Ghost, Icarus, Unicorn..says it all... But In the earliest days were were far away from the brutal death metal that would later appear. So for the material we put out in the beginning, the name worked because it was more Thrash oriented, and in Thrash the bands had sometimes less "evil" names.... and it also made us stick out a bit because all other Swedish bands had short, 1 word names. God knows what inspired us in the early days. Some of the riffs were called "Death riff", "Candlemass riff", "Voivod riff", "Pestilence riff" so I guess they were kind of important. Once we got sucked into the SweDeath scene, more unoriginal inspiration came into the picture, where we tried to compete with Entombed and C:o but after the "total death metal" era, we found inspiration in all kinds of music.... Your sound was very different from the likes of Dismember, Grave, Unleashed, Carnage and Nihilist/Entombed. Although I have noted you have now adopted their sound in Bloodbath. But why did Edge Of Sanity differ so much from the Swedish death metal sound ? First of all, we formed in a little town called Finspång with around 20.000 people, and there was a handful of metalheads, and most of them thought Altars of Madness was "too brutal" when it first came out, so we played as brutal as we though a band could be, after hearing stuff like Pestilence, Slayer and Kreator etc. but later on we jumped on the trend with the HM-2 pedal and tuned town to B and erased all the Thrash influences from the sound.. But since I have musical attention deficit disorder I also made sure that the songs were well arranged and kind of progressive in their structure. Experimenting with 5/8 and 7/8 beats, and just do stuff I never had heard on a brutal record, like the verse from Maze Of Existence, that go from super fast 2 beat to super doom back and forth.... we also arranged so that the 3 string instruments played different things rather than unison etc. That kind of stuff was still in the mix when we tried our best to be super evil Death metal as well...and that might have separated us a bit from the Stockholm bands. This is an archive based interview also intended for the fans you get well after both you and I have passed away so let's go straight to your albums. Please give us your views/some words on your albums, starting with....... The five demos from 1989 to 1992. Is there any chance you will compile them together onto a compilation album ? Euthanasia The first demo, that was created more as a one/off project. Sounds pretty horrible. More of Thrash demo with a strangled monkey on vocals. Immortal Rehearsal The second recording, not really a demo. Just threw up a few mikes in the rehearsalroom to check out our first songs a a proper band. Raw!!! Kur-Nu-Gi-A The 1st real demo. I recently had the pleasure to remix it and have it released on picture vinyl! A dream come true!! Really cool stuff...but still more of a DeathThrash thing. The Dead Never thought of it as a demo, really. It was always called "Promo" because we had great label interest from Black mark around the time, and signed with them soon after it was done. Evil!! Dead But Dreaming We were still with Black mark when it was done, and in many ways the reason why we got to make Unorthodox. Boss once told me that he had pretty much dropped us after the first 2 songs because he felt we were heading in the wrong direction...but then he heard "When all is said" and it saved us for another bunch of records :) Nothing But Death Remains from 1991 Some good songs. HORRIBLE MIX!! Which I could re-record half of it!! *** for the music * for the sound Unorthodox from 1992 Our Sergeant Pepper :) One of the few albums I've made where the "vision" actually was fulfilled in the end. Kind of killed me a bit, because it felt like all I wanted to do with the genre had been done, and I didn't know what to do next. *** Spectral Sorrows from 1993 ...and that is what we did next. There is a few classic EOS style songs on here and a lot of bad padding. Sacrificed was totally off and made people react and check it out. But I guess it scared off a lot of Death heads as well. * Until Eternity Ends from 1994 Not bad at all. Not a big fan of "Bleed" myself, but the other stuff works for me still. * Purgatory Afterglow from 1994 One of my faves. There is a lot of nice material on here. Twilight is a real killer and apart from the dodgy mixjob (of mine) the album is really close to perfect. Well...the last track is kind of messed up...but it's also a lot because it lacks power in the mix... Crimson from 1996 I would say that 80% of it is fking amazing stuff. There are some passages there that I feel haven't aged that well...but some moments are true amazing...and the fact that it feels 20 minutes when you listen to it back to back is awesomeness!! ** Infernal from 1997 I think a few of my songs are cool...the sound is not one of Tägtgrens finer moments. A testament of a band in pieces. Cryptic from 1997 No comments :) Crimson II from 2003 Not even half as good as Crimson, but there are some kick ass riffing going on, but the sound and the drum-samples just turns me off every time.. It could have been a lot better if I had demoed it first...but it went pretty much straight from the head to the CD press * For those of us unknown with your music; how would you describe Edge Of Sanity's music ? Powerful Metal with a Death-like twist. How was the creative processes in your band from coming up with an idea to it's being recorded ? In the early days we all spent out spare time riffing away and assembled the songs at our rehearsalspace. Around halfway thru TSS we started to write more and more alone or in pairs... By the PA album I wrote 90% alone and showed them the songs as we recorded them.. Crimson was a group effort. We all sat in a circle facing each other (Except Benny that was in a booth far away...poor b*d) Crimson II was from 2003. Is this the final Edge Of Sanity album or what is the plans for the future ? Well...the KUR-NU-GI-A demo is remixed and released...and my other plans is to clean up the archive and release some restored stuff like pre-productions and a live gig from Denmark that is pretty well recorded... also a few songs from the roughmix of NBDR etc. etc. If I get what I want, it's 2 CD's one called "You can't live forever...." and the 2nd "...but can you be dead forever?" To wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this interview ? Thanx for your interest in my stuff!! If you are curious about EOS, please feel free to buy the "When all is said" compilation. More bang for your buck is hard to find!! Thank you to Dan for this interview Their PA profile is here and their homepage(ish) is here**

Conor Fynes Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: February 11 2009 Location: Vancouver, CA Status: Offline Points: 3196	Posted: September 23 2011 at 14:08
	Very cool interview, especially his views on his own albums.

tupan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: August 22 2005 Location: Brazil Status: Offline Points: 1239	Posted: September 24 2011 at 14:15
	^Yes, he was very sincere.
	"Prog is Not Dead and never has been." (Will Sergeant, from Echo And The Bunnymen)

avestin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 18 2005 Status: Offline Points: 12625	Posted: September 24 2011 at 15:03
	Interesting interview. I rate Dan's albums quite similarly to him (although I rate Crimson II higher). Refreshing to hear such sincerity and critical approach from a musician on their own albums.
	Hanging Sounds PA Index of prog music vendors

Earendil Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: November 17 2008 Location: Indiana, USA Status: Offline Points: 1584	Posted: September 24 2011 at 15:19
	Thanks for the interview. I need to check out Unorthadox, seeing how highly he rates it.

Mellotron Storm Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: August 27 2006 Location: The Beach Status: Offline Points: 13587	Posted: September 24 2011 at 21:59
	A very interesting read. I haven't heard Unorthodox that he rates so highly.Very refreshing to hear such honesty about ones own music.
	"The wind is slowly tearing her apart" "Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN

Prog Geo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: November 09 2010 Location: Athens (Greece) Status: Offline Points: 2555	Posted: September 25 2011 at 05:25
	Yeah! Edge of sanity is one of my favorite bands. Nice interview like always.
	Sonorous Meal show every Sunday at 20:00 (greek time) on http://www.justincaseradio.com

J-Man Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: August 07 2008 Location: Philadelphia,PA Status: Offline Points: 7826	Posted: September 25 2011 at 13:38
	Great interview! EOS is one of my main musical inspirations!
	Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime