Edge Of Sanity "Crimson II"

Crimson II is the eighth and final full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity. The album continues the story first heard on the album Crimson (1996).

The album, released to positive reviews, was dedicated to the memory of Chuck Schuldiner. It is the only Edge of Sanity release that does not feature Andreas Axelsson or the rest of the original lineup. Instead, it features contributions from guest musicians Mike Wead, Jonas Granvik, and brothers Roger and Simon Johannson.

Released during the advent of online music piracy, the album was indexed into over 40 track splits on the CD pressings, running from 18 seconds to a minute and a half, to discourage ripping and sharing (despite software like iTunes having the ability to rip groups of tracks as one file). When it was later released to digital stores and streaming services, the album was indexed into 9 tracks that are not all split according to the song movements; this caused the movement names to be extended with "Aftermath II" and "III" even though only the final two tracks contain the movement itself. Neither Swanö nor label Black Mark Production have commented on why this is the case or why the edited version was used.

The album was remixed and slightly edited for the compilation When All Is Said (2006) so it would fit on one CD with an edit and remix of the first song.

Full versions of both songs were used for a combined vinyl release in 2003. For this, the song was split in half, with side 2 picking up at "Achilles Heel." In 2011 it was reissued on 'ice blue' vinyl but used the digital release as the audio source, as each section of the songs fade in and out at the exact times they do in the Amazon MP3 release.

Track listing

Note: Although the album consists of one 43-minute-long song, it really is split up into 9 movements.

All lyrics are written by Clive Nolan; all music is composed by Dan Swanö.

1. "Crimson II"

I. "The Forbidden Words"

II. "Incantation"

III. "Passage of Time"

IV. "The Silent Threat"

V. "Achilles Heel"

VI. "Covenant of Souls"

VII. "Face to Face"

VIII. "Disintegration"

IX. "Aftermath""

Total length: 43:00

To further confusion, the digital release of the album uses the When All is Said remix/edit and splits it differently, throwing some movement times out of alignment. Most of the tracks also fade in and out at the beginning/end.

Originally intended to be released as a Dan Swanö album.

Some versions feature a condensed tracklist:

1. "The Forbidden Words" (04:10)

2. "Incantation" (03:01)

3. "Passage of Time" (05:37)

4. "The Silent Threat" (04:26)

5. "Achilles Heel" (03:17)

6. "Covenant of Souls" (02:29)

7. "Face to Face" (03:11)

8. "Disintegration" (03:16)

9. "Aftermath" (03:54)

10. "Aftermath II" (03:18)

11. "Aftermath III" (04:51)

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at "The Room" May - July 2003.

Drums recorded at "The Store". Vocals recorded at "The Office".