evolution
 |
1. Pernicious anguish (1989) "Euthanasia" demo - '99 remix | 2:20 | |||||
| 2. Immortal souls (1990) "Immortal Rehearsals" demo - '99 remaster | 3:59 | ||||||
| 3. Maze of existence (1990) "Kur-Nu-Gi-A" demo - '99 remix | 4:40 | ||||||
| 4. The dead (1990) "The Dead" demo - '99 remaster | 3:50 | ||||||
| 5. Angel of distress (1991) "Nothing but Death Remains" lp - '99 remix | 3:29 | ||||||
| 6. Everlasting (1991) "Dead but Dreaming" demo - '99 remaster | 5:38 | ||||||
| 7. After afterlife (1992) "Unorthodox" lp - '99 remix | 4:35 | ||||||
| 8. Human aberration (1992) "Unorthodox" cassette - '99 remaster | 3:35 | ||||||
| 9. Kill the police (1992) previously unreleased - '99 remaster | 0:40 | ||||||
| 10. When all is said (1992) previously unreleased remix - '99 remaster | 6:33 | ||||||
| 11. Blood of my enemies (1992) previously unreleased demoversion - '99 remaster | 3:32 | ||||||
| 12. Elegy (1993) previously unreleased - '99 remaster | 2:29 | ||||||
| 13. The masque (1993) "The Spectral Sorrows" - '99 remix | 6:29 | ||||||
| 14. Pernicious anguish (1993) Previously unreleased in Europe - '99 remaster | 2:10 | ||||||
| 15. Until eternity ends (1993) "Until Eternity Ends" MCD - '99 remix / re-recording | 3:56 | ||||||
| 16. Song of sirens (1994) "Purgatory Afterglow" - '99 remix | 2:30 | ||||||
| 17. Criminally insane (1995) "Slatanic Slaughter" - '99 remaster | 2:31 | ||||||
| 18. Murder dividead (1996) "Black Mark Attack" - '99 remix | 3:17 | ||||||
| 19. I wanna go home (1996) "Guldskivan" - '99 remaster | 3:36 | ||||||
| 20. Damned by the damned (1997) "Infernal" - '99 remaster | 5:31 | ||||||
| 21. Moonshine (1997) previously unreleased - '99 remaster | 1:41 | ||||||
| 22. Bleed you dry (1998) "Cryptic" - '99 remaster | 5:24 | ||||||
| 23. Mother (1998) "Black Meark Tribute II" - '99 remaster | 3:07 | ||||||
| 24. Epidemic reign (1999) previously unreleased - '99 recording | 3:40 | ||||||
| total time | 89:13 | ||||||
Dear friend
Thank you for purchasing this piece of musical history. When I left
the band I always knew that I had this thing to complete before I
could call it a day. Remember, this is not "The best of" or a
"Greatest Hits" cottection, it is the musical diary of the evolution
of Edge Of Sanity.
PERNICIOUS ANGUISH is the first track we ever wrote. It was written
and recorded a November evening in 1989 using a 4 track porta studio.
Sami, Benny and Dread was there to record the basic track for a new
demo with their hardcare band F.Z.0. After a while they started
jamming and I joined in on "vocals" and the rest is history. You can
bear the beer!! Later on Anders lindberg joined on bass and Dread
switched to guitar. We found a place to rehearse and we pretty much
started all over again. The first song we nailed as a five piece was
IMMORTAL SOULS. We wrote three more songs and recorded them live in
the rehearsal room and released the "Immortal Rehearsals" demo . The
version on this CD is taken from a bad cassette copy but I think you
can bear what's going on anyway. Somehow we all felt that the
"production" of the rehearsal demo wasn't good enough to start
shopping for a deal so we re-recorded it and added MAZE OF EXISTENCE,
a new track that was way ahead of the others in every way.
"Kur-nu-gi-a" is sumerian for "hell" and it was the perfect name for
our most successful demo. The demo sold well and after a while we got
in touch with Black Mark. They wanted more material so we recorded
THE DEAD and obviously they liked what they heard! It was a big thing
for us to sign a record deal. Well, myself and Anders never got to
sign it since we were both 17 at the time but our dear mothers helped
us out and the first album was a fact. We recorded the "Nothing but
death remains" album in Montezuma Recordings the first days of '91.
It was five cool but expensive days and I have never liked the way
the first record turned out. All our dreams about being the next big
thing was crushed when we heard the final pressing, complete with
drop-outs and all.. Re-mixing a track from this album have been a
dream of mine for some eight years now and I can't believe I did it!!
The sound on the master tapes was better than I had expected and I
think ANGEL OF DISTRESS sounds a tot better in this 99 remix. After
the disappointment with the first album setting nothing and not being
mega stars, we returned to the rehearsal room and wrote a bunch of
new, more brutal material. EVERLASTING was one of them. With this
song we introduced the classic Edge Of Sanity guitar sound that would
last forever?? Dread's "entombed sound" clashed in a cool way with
Sami's "american sound". This version was recorded at my old eight
track studio Gorysound the summer of 1990. By the time we got to
record the second album Unorthodox this song was pretty much
forgotten and ended up somewhere in the middle of this album.
Everybody raved about the mega classic "Enigma". It's too good to be
forgotten, so here it is in its mega brutal demo version. The only
existing master of this demo is a bad cassette, so please have
patience with some audio defects on this one, OK!!?? We recorded
demos for Unorthodox right before leaving for Belgium to do our first
gig outside Sweden, but unfortunately this is the only session that
we couldn't find for this record. AFTER AFTERLIFE was one of the last
songs we wrote before leaving for Stockholm and Montezuma once again
during the Christmas holidays of 1991. One of the things I wish to
achieve with this album is to bring forward some of the forgotten
classics that can be found on Edge Of Sanity recordings. After
Afterlife is one of them, enjoy the 1999 remix. During the Unorthodox
sessions we recorded a few extra songs that would end up as bonus
tracks on both the CD and the cassette. This remake of HUMAN
ABERRATION with Dread on lead vocals can be found on the cassette
version. To round it all off we recorded an immortal version of the
Cryptic Death classic KILL THE POLICE. The ultimate encore in the
Live-set, where the Line-up and sometimes even the language changed!
We decided to shoot a video for WHEN ALL IS SAID so I went back to
Montezuma to make a more video friendly edited remix of the track.
Both the edit and the video failed, but the remix of the album
version remained. If you listen carefully you'll find some new
vocals! Black Mark wanted to release "When all is said" as a 12" maxi
so we recorded some b-sides for that one the summer of 1992. I had
this dream to record a cover of the Manowar classic BLOOD OF MY
ENEMIES and this was the perfect time to do it. Unfortunately the 12"
was cancelled and this version have been hidden since then. We all
liked our version so we re-recorded it for the third album "The
Spectral Sorrows". We decided to take a break and spend some time
doing other things. I wanted the band to go in a more universal
direction, blending a lot of different elements on. Personally I
think I went over the top when I presented ELEGY to the other blokes.
A total ballad/grunge track without any connection to Death metal,
The song never made it onto "The Spectral Sorrows" only a very
selected amount of people have heard it before, until now. You have
to remember that this was in 1993, Death metat was nowhere near as
"mainstream" as it is today. I think we did the right thing to leave
it for dead, didn't we?? Anyway, after playing a showcase gig for MTV
at The Dome in London we returned to the studio to nail the real
album. I wrote THE MASQUE the night before we went into the studio
because I felt the album was lacking some classic Edge material. The
production of the original version is a combination of superb and
absolutely horrible. I re-mixed this one in order to try to shape
things up a bit and let the music stand out a bit more without the
audio defects found on the first mix. The recording session of the
third album saw the return of PERNICIOUS ANGUISH. I think we planned
to use it for the record but later on we changed our minds and used
it for the Japanese version of "Nothing but death remains. So unless
you're a diehard fan or a record collector I am pretty sure that you
haven't heard this version before. Compare it to the original
version. Is it the same band?? Even though "The Spectral Sorrows" was
our biggest commercial success we felt that the fourth album had to
be different. I had written some "Twisted Sister Death metal" tracks
and Dread and the guys had written a hardcore song. And I still can't
believe that I managed to talk the others into recording the Police
cover. After a while we realized that we were on our way to write
just another "compilation album". The material was great but we felt
that the fourth album had to be harder and more focused. We recorded
the songs we had and released them as a mini album. The title track
UNTIL ETERNITY ENDS is presented here in a re-mixed version with some
brand new vocals. We started to write evil and furious "back to the
roots" tracks but Black Mark heard about our brutal ideas, still high
on the success of "The spectral Sorrows" they talked us into adding
more melodic elements to the songs. I was eager to please and wrote
"Twilight" and "Black Tears" the other blokes did their homework and
dragged along "Velvet Dreams". Only one question remained, why "Until
Eternity Ends" ?? Anyway, shit happens. "Purgatory Afterglow" saw the
beginning of the "me and them" scenario. In order to have a little
band feeling on the album we all joined forces and wrote SONG OF
SIRENS. Due to some stress with the mix, the original idea to make
this track a bit more "industrial" failed. I have been eager to remix
this track since day one and here, it is. Sami and Dread recorded the
lead vocals for this one. Then came the tribute albums!! I knew that
the next album would take time and in order not to be totally
forgotten the band was gathered once again to record a version of the
Slayer classic CRIMINALLY INSANE. Our version suffered from a
terrible production, but with the help of modern computer technology
this re-mastered version sounds Light years better than the official
mix. I moved away from Finspång and the other guys dropped by
to my new hometown a weekend in November 1995 to write what should
become the 40 minute track "Crimson". Our most spectacular song since
"Sacrificed". The guys had written some stuff on their own that would
work just fine as Japanese bonus tracks and MURDER. DIVIDEAD was one
of them. Here it is in a re-mastered and slightly re-titled
versions!! We also found the time to record a song for a Sator
tribute. I WANNA GO HOME was our "touring Like this sucks song" when
things were tough in the backseat of a Volvo!! "Crimson" sold
surprisingly well and we went on the road for the last time with me
behind the microphone. After returning from the road we started to
write material on our own. One of the tracks from "Infernal" that I
think sounds Like a "real" Edge of Sanity track is DAMNED BY THE
DAMNED. The guys recorded the basic tracks with Peter Tägtgren
at the end of 1996 while I did the vocals on my portable studio in
the Abyss bedroom! The same machine was the used to record the
Legendary MOONSHINE track. One night after Peter left the studio we
sneaked into the main room and blasted away like maniacs. A lyric in
Swedish slagging off old friends and a totally brutal alcohol
dripping hardcore track to match made sure that JVC Japan didn't need
a bonus track for "Infernal". So for the first time ever, enjoy the
last track we wrote together!! I felt that the spirit of the band was
impossible to cure with me in it and I chose to leave the guys to do
their thing. My old band mate from Pan-Thy-Monium and Kill, Robert
Karisson stepped in and took over the vacant spot. I had suggested
him as a tour replacement much earlier but the rest of the band
didn't like the idea. BLEED YOU DRY is my personal favetrack off the
"Cryptic" album that was released very shortly after the release of
"Infernal". I know the guys don't like it that much anymore, but I
think it's smashing!! MOTHER is taken from a compilation album that
Black Mark released. This version is slightly re-mastered in order to
achieve a better overall sound quality. During the recording of
"Crimson" the guys recorded the backing tracks for what should become
EPIDEMIC REIGN I never found the spirit to finish it, until now.
Robert and Benny came by, we had a chat, a coffee and a cool "vocal
war" down at the studio. EPIDEMIC REIGN is an old lyric that Dread
wrote in 1990. I found it when I was digging for nostalgia for this
session. It was never used because I am not sure that the title is
correct English, but who cares. We have used incorrect titles and
lyrics before!!! Anyway, this track is a duet between me and Robert
and this is my official resignation song!!
Rock hard!
Dan Swanö.
Lyrics in plain text format
Edge of Sanity was:
Dan Swanö / vocals
Sami Nerberg / guitar
Dread / guitar
Anders Lindberg / bass
Benny Larsson / drums
Edge of Sanity is:
Robert Karlsson / vocals
Sami Nerberg / guitar
Dread / guitar
Anders Lindberg / bass
Benny Larsson / drums
All songs recorded and mixed by Dan Swanö except:
"Angel of Distress" "When All is Said" "After Afterlife" "Kill the Police"
"Human Abberation" by Rex Gissl&eaigu;n
"Damned by the Damned" by Peter Tägtgren
"Mother" by Kenta Brass
All remixed and pre-mastering by Dan Swanö
Mastered by Tom Müller
All songs written by Edge of Sanity except:
"Criminally Insane" by Slayer
"I Wanna Go Home" by Sator
"Kill the Police" by Cryptic Death
"Mother" by Danzig
Executive production by Black Mark
Known photocredits:
Tobias Lundgren
Åsa Swanö
Mattias Axelsson
Anders Måreby
Graphics by Dan Swanö
Of course this isn't a new Edge of Sanity album, but a collection of greatest and rare songs, all remixed and remastered and stuff by Dan Swanö I think the greatest hits are pretty cool, but as much as I like Edge of Sanity, I don't care much for the covers and rare tracks. So I guess this is a release only for the real EoS fan
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
