Edge of Sanity were not alone in their extreme metal ascent but were unique. A few Swedish bands have accomplished more conceptually and musically throughout the group's journey from eager teenagers in the late eighties to Edge of Sanity's final throes in 2003. While what they did at the time caused alarm, in hindsight, it all makes sense. The first death metal "ballad" can be found in "When All Is Said". The clean vocal in "Enigma" was uncommon and possibly too forward-thinking in 1992. Fresh out of early retirement, Edge of Sanity imposed not only a gothic rock song ("Sacrificed") but also a Manowar cover ("Blood of My Enemies") when experimentation was not de rigueur. Coloring outside of well-established lines was career suicide in then-myopic death metal. Yet, Edge of Sanity did it time and again. They dared to make a single-song album on Crimson, a 40-minute adventure out of step with industry norms. And when it was all said and done, they vanished into thin air (as they had a few times before) in 2003: fourteen years and eight albums, a strident strike against convention yet a veritable spearhead of what was to come.