Is this not one of the strangest reviews?
Guys I'd Go Gay For - Part I - 86%
Written by OzzyApu on December 2nd, 2007
Dan Swanö
The minimal talk relating to Edge Of Sanity led me to listen to their first three albums, which weren’t too memorable overall. However, it only took the first track of Purgatory Afterglow to give me a raging boner. Either due to the fact that I was watching porn or had a picture of Swanö up, the fact remains clear – Purgatory Afterglow holds some damn fine material.
Now I’m not gay or anything, but Swanö has two things going for him: his manliness and his vocals. Aside from the stellar production job (improving greatly off of The Spectral Sorrows), Swanö issues more clean singing and growling, none of which hampers the music. While Edge Of Sanity remain a death metal band at heart, the album leans more progressively than the previous ones, and we can only blame Dan for such a move. Compared to the other releases, Purgatory Afterglow actually sounds much more diverse and full of substance, so expect tracks ranging from heavy, catchy, tranquil, and thrashy - all supplied by lyrical depth of some sort concerning fantasy, inner emotions, our damned world, and at least once on every album, Jesus.
All in all, the guitarists definitely stepped their game up, because the rhythm and lead work became fifty billion times more filthy and infectious than before. The riffs throughout all the songs have some sort of evil, buzzy, melodic distortion and flow to them that isn’t too repetitive or typical, giving us that cool, progressive vibe. Solos do not appear on every track, which isn’t anything to bicker about, since despite the track lengths, all the members can keep you interested in every way possible… listening wise that is…
Drumming stays in pace with the rhythm of the song, so nothing special usually comes out of it. Don’t fret though, since technicality isn’t necessary if the drums qualify as relentless and precise. The worst possible job in the field of this album would be from the bass. Unless a bass booster exists and works while you listen to this, you’ll have to stick your ears up to your speakers if you want to hear them. The bass clearly does add a bit of fresh heaviness to the entire album, which would have been a thin distortionfest without them.
Swanö easily takes my cake for the hottest guy of the group. Presumably twenty-one years old at the time of this release, his vocal work shifts between angelic and semi-demonic, equally attracting men from both worlds. Nothing guttural about the growls, so normally anyone can make out what the stud wants to say. When he goes clean on our asses, Dan’s vocals soothe our souls in a layer of warmth that only my blanket can touch, even in the naughty places.
Not much to say about the rest of his friends, other than they range from average to DO NOT WANT. Nonetheless, the album wins my vote as a top-notch death metal album with tendencies to sway in a way that will attract progressive fans to not the heaviest of extreme albums, but a unique one. A rather unorthodox album, Mr. Swanö, a rather unorthodox album…
How mad is that?!
I'm not complaining though, it is an AWESOME album. Although for some reason I've not mentioned him so far on this blog; Dan Swanö is probably my favourite person in metal, if not in music overall.
Guys I'd Go Gay For - Part I - 86%
Written by OzzyApu on December 2nd, 2007
Dan Swanö
The minimal talk relating to Edge Of Sanity led me to listen to their first three albums, which weren’t too memorable overall. However, it only took the first track of Purgatory Afterglow to give me a raging boner. Either due to the fact that I was watching porn or had a picture of Swanö up, the fact remains clear – Purgatory Afterglow holds some damn fine material.
Now I’m not gay or anything, but Swanö has two things going for him: his manliness and his vocals. Aside from the stellar production job (improving greatly off of The Spectral Sorrows), Swanö issues more clean singing and growling, none of which hampers the music. While Edge Of Sanity remain a death metal band at heart, the album leans more progressively than the previous ones, and we can only blame Dan for such a move. Compared to the other releases, Purgatory Afterglow actually sounds much more diverse and full of substance, so expect tracks ranging from heavy, catchy, tranquil, and thrashy - all supplied by lyrical depth of some sort concerning fantasy, inner emotions, our damned world, and at least once on every album, Jesus.
All in all, the guitarists definitely stepped their game up, because the rhythm and lead work became fifty billion times more filthy and infectious than before. The riffs throughout all the songs have some sort of evil, buzzy, melodic distortion and flow to them that isn’t too repetitive or typical, giving us that cool, progressive vibe. Solos do not appear on every track, which isn’t anything to bicker about, since despite the track lengths, all the members can keep you interested in every way possible… listening wise that is…
Drumming stays in pace with the rhythm of the song, so nothing special usually comes out of it. Don’t fret though, since technicality isn’t necessary if the drums qualify as relentless and precise. The worst possible job in the field of this album would be from the bass. Unless a bass booster exists and works while you listen to this, you’ll have to stick your ears up to your speakers if you want to hear them. The bass clearly does add a bit of fresh heaviness to the entire album, which would have been a thin distortionfest without them.
Swanö easily takes my cake for the hottest guy of the group. Presumably twenty-one years old at the time of this release, his vocal work shifts between angelic and semi-demonic, equally attracting men from both worlds. Nothing guttural about the growls, so normally anyone can make out what the stud wants to say. When he goes clean on our asses, Dan’s vocals soothe our souls in a layer of warmth that only my blanket can touch, even in the naughty places.
Not much to say about the rest of his friends, other than they range from average to DO NOT WANT. Nonetheless, the album wins my vote as a top-notch death metal album with tendencies to sway in a way that will attract progressive fans to not the heaviest of extreme albums, but a unique one. A rather unorthodox album, Mr. Swanö, a rather unorthodox album…
How mad is that?!
I'm not complaining though, it is an AWESOME album. Although for some reason I've not mentioned him so far on this blog; Dan Swanö is probably my favourite person in metal, if not in music overall.
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