Iced Earth - Night of the Stormrider (1991)^{Release ID: 3587}

I had a great deal of time for the 1990 self-titled debut album from Florida outfit Iced Earth after discovering them through a video compilation shortly after its release. The five-piece band more than made up for the vocal deficiencies of front man Gene Adam with a splendid blend of US power metal & thrash metal that ticked a great many of my metal boxes. Rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer's impeccable right-hand technique was of particular interest for the budding young axeslinger that I was at the time & I quickly committed to checking out Iced Earth's subsequent releases as well as their earlier "Enter the Realm" demo. 1991's "Night Of The Stormrider" sophomore album was a little bit different though with John Greely replacing Adam behind the microphone stand & Richey Secchiari filling Mike McGill's empty drum stool. The resulting recordings would see Iced Earth presenting just as strong a "Master of Puppets"-era thrash metal influence as "Iced Earth" did but the greater emphasis on creating an epic atmosphere through soaring melodic content saw the album sitting a little less comfortably next to your average thrash record & feeling much better suited to the power metal scene (both the US & the European ones). I have to admit that my struggles with power metal were very real at the time &, if anything, I'm actually a little more open the genre now so it's fair to say that I found "Night Of The Stormrider" to be pretty tough going which would see me distancing myself from Iced Earth until 1997's "Days of Purgatory" re-recording album would entice me into checking out what their early works might sound like with a more suitable production job & front man. Sadly, I wouldn't explore Iced Earth's more accomplished 1990's studio albums until 2014 when I was preparing to see them play live at Sydney's Manning Bar at which time I discovered that they had a lot more to offer than "Storm of the Nightrider" had delivered to me back in the day. Fast-forwarding to the modern day & it's been decades since my perceptions around the merits of Iced Earth's sophomore record were first developed. The unanimous praise that seems to be heaped on it have not gone unnoticed by me either so it's about time I gave the album a reassessment.

The first thing I noticed about "Night of the Stormrider" upon this revisit is the production job which isn't amazing to be fair. Jon Schaffer's rhythm guitar sound is a bit dry which I don't feel provides his skill sets with the best platform. The lack of bass guitar in the mix doesn't help either while the use of synthesizers is often a little over the top. Still... I found that I was able to get used to the sound over a few listens to the point where it definitely made less of an impact by my third spin. New front man Greely's vocals are like chalk & cheese with Gene Adams' delivery with Greely opting for a theatrical, operatic approach that reeks of power metal indulgence. I do really enjoy the moments where he pushes up into Rob Halford style falsetto territory though as he reminds me very much of Judas Priest's classic "Painkiller" album at times. Sanctuary/Nevermore front man Warrel Dane sometimes comes to mind too actually.

The stylistic approach of "Storm of the Nightrider" is very much what I remembered with the band keeping one foot in Iron Maiden/Judas Priest territory while galloping forwards with some of the most precise right-hand thrash riffage this side of James Hetfield with the other. Unlike the self-titled debut though, this record simply doesn't "feel" like thrash metal even though it's so clearly dominated by the consistent use of fast thrash guitar work. The added melodicism, consciously epic atmosphere & over the top vocal style are all at odds with the mentality of your average thrash band & I feel that the US power metal tag covers a wide enough area to encapsulate the sounds heard on this record.  The fluency of the song-writing is still a work in progress though as there are many examples of disparate parts simply being pasted together & the art of the segway would be an area that Iced Earth would get much better at by the end of the decade.

I have to admit that I've been a bit hard on Iced Earth in regard to the quality of the material though as there aren't really any genuinely weak tracks included so I do find myself enjoying the album as a whole these days. It certainly helps that the tracklisting kicks off with one of the best inclusions in the excellent "Angels Holocaust" with its symphonic flourishes & face-tearing vocals. The excellent "Pure Evil" is the other clear highlight in my opinion & is probably my favourite track on the record to be honest. The rest of the songs are all pretty good without ever pushing me to consider awarding my higher scores. All of the material sits at a very consistent level of quality but I'm not sure that I ever feel that I'm listening to a tier one metal band because "Night of the Stormrider" is just a little too consciously extravagant for my taste &, as a result, I hold a preference for the darker records either side of it. I can definitely see why it appeals to some people so much these days though, particularly those with a penchant for thrashy US power metal like Metal Church & early Nevermore or Jon Schaffer's side project Demons & Wizards.

Iced Earth’s sophomore album is where they aced their style of epic, thrashy Power Metal. The album is a concept about a man fed up with religion who receives power from the devil and leads a sort of crusade against humanity, plunging the world into darkness, before finally losing his mortal soul to the devil after all is done. It’s a well written story with a decent variety of songs that back up each chapter. None of the musicianship or songwriting is mind-blowing, but it’s certainly very strong, and the rhythm section puts down some quite unique (for the time) beats.

I feel I should enjoy this album more than I do, but despite the awesome concept and genre being right up my ally, it just doesn’t strike home. The riffs are very rhythmic and unmemorable, somehow they are missing both the edge of Thrash as well as the melody of Power Metal. That aside it is very great stuff, a strong concept album played in a style unique at the time.

'Iced Earth' was a solid debut album that set the bar pretty high for this band very early in their career, but they've managed to take what worked before and build upon it, with this, 'Night of the Stormrider', an equally solid follow-up.

Most of what we have on this album is identical to its predecessor with just a few tweaks. Most notably is the acquisition of a new vocalist (a position that will change many times in this bands history) in John Greely, who replaces Gene Adams. While Adams did a great job with his fairly limited ability, Greely has a much more powerful voice which suits the more symphonic and operatic elements which have been implemented into the groups sound with this record.

Guitarist, songwriter and all-round band leader Jon Schaffer takes charge once more with lightning-fast riffs that puts most thrash metal bands to shame. With song-writing so polished and precise, this sounds like a band that has been around for a long time. If their debut album didn't convert any fans, then tracks like 'Stormrider', 'Desert Rain', 'Travel in Stygian' and the true gem of this release 'Angel's Holocaust' will surely win you over.

Whilst I personally prefer ‘Iced Earth’ to ‘Night of the Stormrider’ (personal preference), strong songwriting and beefed up production make this a worthy successor to a strong debut. It no doubt helped establish Iced Earth as one of power metals heavyweights, and deserves its place in the genres history.