Purgatory

Edge of Sanity is one of the classic Swedish Death Metal bands that was there from the beginning, along with Grave, Dismember, Entombed, etc. All their early stuff is great. Purgatory Afterglow is one that I wanted from them forever but could never find it. I'm glad I did find it because now it's one my favorites of theirs. A lot of people would say it's their best, and I wouldn't argue with them. They really had their Swedish sound dialed in on this one. All the songs are solid. The best ones are Twilight, Blood-Colored, Elegy, and Of Darksome Origin in my opinion. Dan Swano is a Metal God. I love how he switches from his amazing Death Metal growl to his clear singing voice. His range is unparalleled. If you want to know where bands like Opeth got their influence than check out this classic CD. It's funny how Mikael Akerfeldt started sounding like Dan Swano when Opeth did their 3rd CD. Just something I noticed. Opeth is ok but I don't see why people kiss their ass. If you want some classic Swedish Death Metal with some different type of stuff check out Purgatory Afterglow.

Prog metal that isn't overproduced and it rips. What else do I have to say

Dan Swanö's Masterpiece. I don't think need more to say about this record. Top 3 Death Metal Records of all time

Purgatory Afterglow is Edge of Sanity's fourth album after The Spectral Sorrows. It is when the band started to push the form of death metal by constantly trying to be innovative, experimental, and progressive. That is what set them apart from all the other contemporaries. Unfortunately they were always overshadowed by other Swedish acts, most of whom, in my opinion, were no where near as talented as EOS. Purgatory Afterglow marks the highpoint of the band's career. Crimson, the 40-minute one-song album, was the excellent follow-up to it and proved that EOS would become one of the most important, daring, and innovative death metal bands of the 90's!The two key elements, which are common characteristics of the band's mastermind Dan Swano, are real death metal riffs mixed up with strong and solid melodies. The riffs, as opposed to their first three albums, are more sublime riffs, but Swano carefully injects the strongest melodies into each and every second creating his unique death metal sound. This is not what so many people tend to call Gothenburg or anything. This is the purest form of DEATH METAL with unforgettable melodies, killer guitar riffs, heavy bass rhythms and pounding drum beats! Not to mention Dan Swano's vocals of course. He is without a doubt one of my favourite growlers ever! I think what I love about this disc so much is the pure, honest emotion in Dan's voice, in addition to the dark and complex yet very melodic atmosphere of the music. Dan Swano has such a broad musical vision and truly embraces so many different styles. He is progressive simply in a much different way than most progressive purists would think qualifies as fitting to the concept and ideals of what "progressive" music should sound like. One thing no one would deny is that Edge of Sanity has showed a lot of growth and a clear evolution from album to album always trying to cover new ground, and never repeating themselves. EOS has been more progressive in terms of what the word means today--playing fast, technical, crazy time changes, etc. Not that Dan isn't capable of it. He would prove that as well on his solo album Moontower four years after Purgatory Afterglow. (Moontower is still one of my favourite albums of all time by any band.)"Twilight" is the first and longest song of the album which kicks in with an atmospheric keyboard intro shocking you there for a moment. Considering that their first three albums were much more straight-forward you're speechless for a moment. But then the speedy thrash runs with powerful riffs begin to set the mood and Dan's aggressive yet melodic death grunts allow you to sit back and enjoy the content of this disc. Riffs. Melodies. Grunts. Riffs. Melodies. Grunts. Fiery drumming kicking in and taking a break. Wow! There's no real chorus but the song manages to stick in your mind: memorable. This thing has the trademark EOS feel all over it. That's the vibe I get whenever I play their stuff with their classic line-up consisting of Dan, Dread, Sami, and Anders. "Of Darksome Origin" continues this vibe all the way: intricate guitar work, powerful riffs, melodic passages, cerebral lyrics, and again indescribable vocals from Dan. There's also some quite unusual stuff available on this album; for example the song "Black Tears" is the band's first ever song with all clean vocals. It is also a song that shifts the band's focus on the music, with Dan just intervening with short vocal harmonies when necessary during the chorus. Not my personal favourite but a much welcome change if you ask me.One of my favourite tracks on this CD has got to be "Velvet Dreams", it is a song where EOS achieved musical perfection. Dan plays with the words on this one, and the chorus is simply incredible! I love the articulation Dan puts behind his singing. Very metal yet also very emotional. His shifting from death to clean vocals and vice versa gives this album some depth that only few others have achieved. It was on The Spectral Sorrows when Dan first used his clean vocals, but Purgatory Afterglow and Crimson were when his singing became a trademark sound for EOS. The clean and death vocals provide a great balance and make the songs flow better. "Elegy" is one of the songs that displays the band's more direct style, which is a relatively easier song to digest. Purgatory Afterglow isn't about surprising the listener only. It offers everything an open-minded death metal fan might be looking for. "Song of Sirens" is perhaps doesn't live up to the high standards compared to the rest of the tracks here, because it doesn't really seem like it was meant to be a "song" in the first place. It features some unusual atmospheric sounds with sporadic vocals from Dan and some more experimental stuff. This is actually the last song on the CD but the album continues playing for another 10 tracks all lasting merely 2 seconds with complete silence. Another hint that EOS wasn't just a death metal band, they were so much more than that. Too bad not many people understood the aesthetics of their art. Recommended.

I've been a fan of EOS since their first full length release 'Nothing But Death Remains'. They never disappoint me because the mastermind behind the band, Dan Swano, KNOWS what he is doing. He is a fabulous songwriter, very creative, and has lots of influences that really help make their material stand out.While this release has more "clean" vocals and melody than previous efforts, it doesn't detract from their overall death metal sound. What it does do is make the songs stick in your head. The riffs and melodies are infectious and Swano's clean vocals are excellent. He has a great voice.Favorite tracks: Blood Colored, Twilight

so this is my first EOS cd and wow it was a great introduction into the sounds eos melodic death metal at its best harch vocal killer guitar riffs i am just amazed i didnt see this band long ago very harsh vocal lets up for maybe 5-15 seconds somewhere arounf there my favorite song on the album probley is twilight this is highly recomended for those lookeing for a killer death metal album i cant wait to get crimson that album is gonna be awsome

Well, Purgatory Afterglow is second on my list of best EoS releases, first being Crimson of course. This is in all ways perfect album, anyway you look at it. The first track, "Twighlight" is possibly one of the best melodic death metal songs ever written. "Blood Colored" could be considered as death rock and roll, and Swano started experimenting with clean vocals more on "Black Tears", not to mention it has one of the best/catchy riffs ever. "Elegy" has great lyrics, and "Of Darksome Origin" is just great, very evil. In short, this album is sweet, do yourself a favor, if you're into melodic DM, heard previous Swano efforts, you can't miss with Purgatory Afterglow. It's one of the best Swedish Melodic Death Metal 'representatives' in the field. Buy it.

Edge of Sanity may be very talented musicans, Dan Swanö might be a great producer and songwriter, but I think this Cd lacks one thing. Feeling. There aren't any really agressive or melancholical moments on the whole album, in my opinion of course. They seem to try anything, Gothic/Romantic (Twillight), Black Metal (Of darksome Oregin), Entombed ( Song of Sirens)... but I don't get the impression that they really put any emotions in it. The whole Cd sounds so static and predictable, the lyrics are as poetic as the daily news about the stock market exchange and Dan Swanö's Voice sounds tiring, boring and overproduced. I didn't get to hear any other EOS album exept "Crimson" which is just one 40 minute song, so I can't talk about their musical evolution or what has become of them. It's just my opinion, be happy with this CD if you want to.

This is an outstanding melo-death album from these Swedish kings. "Edge Of Sanity" first burst on to the scene with the very amateurish debut of "Nothing But Death Remains" in 1991; but quickly after:- improved their standards by mountains, with the albums of 'Unorthodox' in 1992, and 'The Spectral Sorrows' in 1993; very respectively. Together with the magnum progressive opus of 'Crimson', 1994's "Purgatory Afterglow" remains a career high for this 90's band. In this album, "Edge Of Sanity" distance themselves further from the streamlined Swedish death metal sound embraced by they're earliest albums, towards a more complex brand of ultra melo-death metal with progressive leanings.This is instantly apparant from the first track of "Twilight", which shows us just how woven the melodic intracacies are within the net-basis of raw death metal. Again, these guys are not afraid to show a hint of refined experimentalism or to return to key themes in typical progressive style. I personally enjoyed the prominant use of keyboards in the more subtle situations, as they definitely add tremendously to the feel and atmosphere; and So I guess that the band agreed with this perspective, as they are frequently put to good use throughout the album.The second song "Of Darksome Origin" is an excellent example of true melodic death metal. We have the ultra dark voice of Dan Swano layered over the top of controlled blast beats and aggressive riffs. (all very key characteristics of the Swedish death metal genre bar-none!). In between, a pure sense of melody is regular interupter of this angry song. "Blood - Coloured" in particular, is a departure for the band in many ways, as it displays a rather colourful melodic sheen and ...uh, is that clean vocals there Dan?!. This song is perhaps much more indicative of the latter half of the bands career, (Especially the content on 1997's "Infernal")."Silent" is more melo-death in a faster vein, with a contrasting shade of soundscapes at key intervals. "Black Tears" is another excursion to ultra tuneful melodies and guitar leads; while "Elegy" continues the same run of form of "Silent"; with broken intervals of pure-core death metal, which break up the melodies in a balanced fashion through-out. "Velvet-Dreams" reigns-in the tempo somewhat, with sludgy riffs and a similar style of slowboat melodies.This ultimately leaves "Enter Chaos" to pick up the pace and brutality once more in typical Edge Of Sanity style. "The Sinner And The Sadness" is another brutal song of magnum quantities, leaving only "Song Of Sirens" to end the album, and it does so on a fairly urgent and crushing note. This all shows us the depth of musical understanding and command in execution that these guys held during their prime. After this, they only managed to repeat the majestic standards outlined here once more with 1996's classic 'Crimson'.Most melo-death bands of today, (especially the likes of the Gothenburg scene), owe themselves a nod to this band for leading a brand of truly inspirational and influential metal. This album remains important today, as it's recognition has never been fully recognised. Any observing metal fans, who might be looking to discover the music of "Edge Of Sanity" should definitely start here. In my view, this is one of the founding roots of the scandinavian melo-death subgenre, and it's relevance is still very significant to this day.

Deutschland im Winter 2010. Ich fahre nachts bei Schneesturm und völlig zugeschneiten Straßen von einer Geburtstagsparty nach Hause. Während ich krampfhaft versuche, mein Auto durch die vage Fahrspur im Schnee zu manövrieren, leistet mir Dan Swanö's 94er Elchtod-Meisterwerk "Purgatory Afterglow" quasi den passenden "audiophilen" Beistand. Als mein Wischer die dicken Schneeflocken von der Windschutzscheibe fegt, höre ich mich plötzlich laut aussprechen: "Boah, was für ein geiler Soundtrack!"Tatsächlich könnte "Purgatory Afterglow" neben Dismember's "Like An Everflowing Stream" und Entombed's "Left Hand Path" (das wahrscheinlich soundmäßig an mancher Stelle Pate stand) eines der größten Referenzwerke des Schweden-Death sein. Hier passt einfach alles: rasende, melodische Gitarrenläufe, (Wahnsinns-)Groove, abgrundtiefe Growls, die sich jedoch ab und zu mit herrlich klarem Gesang abwechseln, Blastbeats, und alles präsentiert im besten Sunlight-Sound.Zu Hause angekommen, steige ich glücklich aus dem Auto aus und danke dem Schöpfer (und Dan Swanö!) für dieses intensive Fahr-und Hörerlebnis....Ganz dicke Kaufempfehlung!!!Anspieltipps:TwilightBlood-ColoredSilentBlack Tears (bekannt durch das gute Heaven Shall Burn-Cover)Song Of Sirens

Si tratta degli anni d'oro del Gothenburg sound.Uno dei dischi migliori degli Edge of Sanity:- Ispiratissimo (nessuna caduta di tono durante tutta la durata del disco),- riff micidiali, orecchiabili ma "heavy"- produzione eccezionale- voce potentissima e duttile (non solo growl ma anche clean)In una parola: fantastico!

Super

tolle CD, wollte ich schon immer haben