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Class 6(66)
Edge Of Sanity: Purgatory afterglow
19/09/06 || Lord K Philipson
Released: 1994
Introduction
While Dan Swanö would probably say that “Unorthodox” is the one Edge-album that deserves its spot in this section, I disagree. No matter how good that album may be, this is the finest recorded piece from The Sanity, and 12 years after its release it’s time for it to be placed right fucken here.
Songwriting
8,5. I got quite a bit of inspiration from this album in the past when it came to writing music. I even asked Dan if I could borrow a few riffs from it and he said “yes”. So I did, and some of it ended up on the never-released “Love” album that we recorded (as the band Lame) in 1994. A very awesome album, by the way. Enough about that. Edge Of Sanity always went their own way with shit, sometimes making the band seem kinda unfocused, but on this album they had pretty much all of it together. Catchy tunes with no double bassdrums. That’s where Edge were at most of their career. And this album gave us “Twilight”, Edge Of Sanity’s absolute peak moment. I’d kill to have come up with that opening riff. And don’t forget “Song of sirens”, another complete gem in the arsenal of awesome songs that Edge’s got.
Production
8,5. One of Dan’s best productions ever. The kicks, actually the drums in general, are a little low but the production has a very warm touch to it. Not a trigger in sight.
Guitars
7 and 9,5. A score this high needs some explanation. While the guys in the band obviously were no virtuosos (this is where the “7” comes in) when it came to guitarplaying, they made up for it with passion. I just wonder how much of the stuff is actually played by Dan… The sound of them axes is completely ace (and this would be where the “9,5”-rating enters the review). Dan really made some groundbreaking moves by combining this ultra fucken heavy sound with a cleaner, distorted one. When merged together, the result is breathtaking. Still to this day, the guitar-tone(s) kills most of the shit out there. We used the same idea on the Lame album, that’s how much I loved it.
Vocals
8. Dan’s one underrated growler and no matter how much he hates doing it, he should continue growling coz he’s fucken good at it. Not to mention his clean vocals, which are great as always. I guess guitarist Andreas is responsible for some of the backingvocals, and he always had a great voice.
Bass
3. Pretty much the only downside of this production. It’s there at times but it’s definitely drowning in the massive wall of guitars. I don’t think it’d make a difference if it was taken out of the picture, that’s how small a role it plays here.
Drums
7,5. Benny could quite possibly be the only drummer who ever played in a death metal band without using one single section of doublebass. But the thing is, I’m not missing it. I bet some of the riffs could have been heavier with some 2-feet extravaganza, but Benny’s laidback playing suits Edge all great.
Lyrics
“I close your eyes and whisper “Goodbye”.
You will never see how I cry.
I can recall what you said to me once:
“If I leave there will be a sign…”
And the twilight will show me tonight.”
That’s just as beautiful as a shaved monkey’s ass. Edge of Sanity’s lyrics were nothing out of the ordinary, but they made a hella lot more sense than most bands’ stuff from the same era. I give the lyrics an 8. Well-written without being pretentious. I still wonder what those fucken “X-machines” are that Dan is singing about in “Blood-coloured”…
Cover art
3. All red with some fucken rocks and shit. I s’pose it’s got something to do with some purgatory-woohoo of some kind, but it sure as fuck doesn’t look any good.
Logo
4. Well, it’s just some basic font this time around. I guess the old, classic logo wasn’t anything they wanted to be affiliated with at the time of the release. It had some inverted crosses, skulls, bicycles and shit in it, you know. They later used that logo again though. Even if it’s not a logo by definition, it looks nice placed smack in the middle of the ugly cover.
Booklet
7,5. I like those blood-photos. A very confusing thing was the fact that they used symbols instead of their names when it came to crediting who-did-what for the songs. But the booklet looks real nice. For being a Black Mark release. Scumbag shit-label.
Overall and ending rant
8,5. While a few songs (“Black tears” comes to mind), in true Edge-fashion, feels out of place on this recording it doesn’t prevent the fact that “Purgatory afterglow” is a death metal classic. Coz after all, despite songs like “Black tears”, the core of Edge was death metal. I so remember spending a whole summer listening to this album, being completely blown away by the production and the tunes. I still go back to this one every now and then and it always puts a smile on my face. “Purgatory afterglow” is the strike in the band’s musical bowling game.
