The departure of longtime vocalist and Edge of Sanity mastermind Dan Swano was too much for the group to overcome on this 1997 Black Mark release.
The death metal vocal forays of Swano's replacement, Robben Karlsson, aren't the problem; it's the music that is lacking on Cryptic, no doubt due to the lack of Swano's songwriting and leadership.
The performances are still tight, but there are too many aimless riffs -- and an ill-suited rock vibe on songs like "No Destiny" -- that might be delivered with all the necessary fervor but somehow seem flat anyway.
All is not lost, however, as standouts "Bleed You Dry" and "Not of This World" generate enough momentum to keep listeners away from their CD player's eject button.
Cryptic is in no way a bad Scandinavian metal offering, but Edge of Sanity produced some of the genre's finest work just a couple years before this record's release and, without Swano around, this disc just doesn't hold up.
This is a difficult recommendation considering the many superior efforts from this group.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hell WrittenDread, Edge of Sanity | Edge of Sanity | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 2 | Uncontroll MeDread, Edge of Sanity | Edge of Sanity | Play | 05:53 | 13 MB | 45 MB |
| 3 | No Destiny | Edge of Sanity | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | Demon IDread, Edge of Sanity | Edge of Sanity | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | Not of This WorldDread, Edge of Sanity | Edge of Sanity | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 6 | Dead I WalkDread, Edge of Sanity | Edge of Sanity | Play | 03:24 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 7 | Born, Breed, BleedingDread, Edge of Sanity | Edge of Sanity | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | Bleed You DryDread, Edge of Sanity | Edge of Sanity | Play | 05:23 | 12 MB | 40 MB |
| 35 mins | 81 MB | |||||
| 35 mins | 270 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dread | Composer |
| 2 | Edge of Sanity | Composer, Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |