Edge of Thorns was founded in 1996 by Dirk "Duke" Schmitt (voc, guitars) and Johannes Schütz (drums) in Bitburg. The line-up was completed by bass player Oliver Brück and keyboardist Lothar Krämer. From the very start the focus was on original compositions. Initially, the band focussed on the dark sides of metal, while Duke could concentrate on singing alone after the guitar duo Dave Brixius and Achim Sinzinger joined in 1998. The songs became faster, harder, more melodic and varying. Wreaking riffs, double lead guitars, catchy choruses characterize the songs of that time. Hymns like “Riders of the Storm”, “Dark Magician” or “Lost” came into being.

After several self-produced demos in 2003, the album "Ravenland" was presented to the metal community. Job and family reasons lead into several line-up changes. Achim switched from guitar to bass and Dave was then the only guitar player. Temporarily, the band was supported by keyboarder Markus Olk. At this stage, the album "Masquerading of the Wicked" was done and released beginning of 2008, receiving good reactions. The songs became more various - stamping, catchy metal songs mixed up with speedy double-bass-killers, varying vocals, hard riffing, melodies and lunatic guitar solos without losing sight of the song. Because the keyboards had an increasingly less presence in 2007, Edge of Thorns switched back to a twin guitar attack.