Night on Bröcken

Fates Warning nowadays are known for being one of the co-founders of progressive metal, but this is not where they started their musical career. Back in 1984, when they released their debut, Fates Warning's music was pretty raw and straight forward, heavily inspired by Iron Maiden. Therefore 'Night on Bröcken' is not that original, being just another heavy metal record, of which thousands were released at the time. And still Fates Warning somehow manged to stand out of this mass of NWOBHM worship bands.

Although the vocalist John Arch obviously tries to impersonate Bruce Dickinson, you still can hear his enormous talent and clearly distinguish his voice from others'. At this early point of his career he focuses on the lower register of his range, making his vocals sound rougher and more aggressive than on later albums, fitting the straight heavy metal sound perfectly. Also the riffs on the album absolutely kick ass. Songs like "Buried Alive", "Kiss of Death", "Misfit" and "Soldier Boy" are such a pleasure to listen to. Of course good riffs alone can't be the aspect by which Fates Warning stood out of the many little known heavy metal bands of the early 80s, for they were capable of writing tons of great riffs, but Fates Warning also had interesting songwriting. The title track for example goes from headbanging riffs, that underlie odd melodic changes, to a quiet passage and finally into an anthemic singalong part. Sometimes the unorthodox writing is only found when paying attention to details, like in the song "Buried Alive", where the main riff may be written in 4/4, but is streched over 5 tacts, which is actually pretty original. "Damnation" follows the path of a typical half-ballad, starting off calmly with haunting melodies and later developing into an epic anthem. The song's lyrics also couldn't be more fitting to the present, as they deal with the destruction of past generation's legacy, an open critique to human's expoitation of planet earth.

This album also features 2 instrumentals, that both are among the weaker tracks. "S.E.K." is the superior of the two. With its beautiful medieval harmonies it almost sounds like a guitar etude. There definitely lies lost potential within the song. The beautiful harmonies are disturbed by an empty note that always resonates in the background. I can't tell if this was on purpose or accidentally, but it's annoying anyway so it doesn't really matter. The second instrumental "Shadowfax" features all instruments, is very playful and somehow interesting, still I wouldn't necessarily call it a good song, but not a bad one either. In fact there are no bad songs on the record. Even the weakest one "The Calling" has nice riffs here and there. It's totally fine, I just never feel the urge to listen to it indiviually.

The biggest problem of the album may be the production, being at demo quality. At first listen it can ruin the experience, but when relistening it adds to the record's charm, while of course still being an objectively bad production. Overall Fates Warning did a pretty good job with their debut. It may be primitive compared to the rest of their catalog, but I always have a great time when listening to 'Night on Bröcken'. I definitely recommand it.

7/10 Great!

Fates Warning's first record is a mediocre mixture of heavy metal, power metal and a few smooth progressive metal passages that is actually easy to listen to but not outstanding enough to survive amongst many groundbreaking releases of the same period. Basically, we have a young band that worships the sounds of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal by sounding like their most recognized heroes Iron Maiden and we can also hear some influences from Judas Priest, Rainbow, Triumph, Black Sabbath, Dio and even Queensrÿche in here. I would say that this album overall sounds rather European than American. This album has probably influenced the early years of European power metal around bands such as Helloween and later on Stratovarius.

The problem with "Night On Bröcken" is that I would not only prefer the original influences to this record but also the bands that were influenced them and kicked off their very own style with these basics afterwards. Let's say that too many songs sound too similar and are mid paced heavy metal tracks with some high pitched power metal vocals. Let's say that John Arch's vocals are the most outstanding and memorable thing about the band but I would still always prefer a Geoff Tate. The two instrumental tracks only have a filler status and are quite bearable.

This is still easy listening party metal with a pretty high standard and fans of early Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche or Helloween won't do anything wrong with the purchase of this album. But it's far from being essential or original and hasn't anything special to offer a part of its entertaining factor. The highlight is surely the epic and rather diversified album closer "Soldier Boy" that justifies the existence of the band and gives us a little glimpse at what would come from this group in the near future.

'Fates Warning' is a band that went through many types of identities throughout their long career. 'Night on Bröcken' is probably their most banal form, but you gotta start from somewhere. This album came out in 1984, the same year that 'Iron Maiden' released their third album with Bruce Dickinson. Besides the rough production that sounds more like a demo recording than a full length album and the unripe songwriting, this album just screams 'Iron Maiden' in each riff and vocal part.

John Arch is probably the best thing going on here as he is probably the best Bruce Dickinson imitator out there. He has extremely high range and an operatic timbre that could fit albums such as 'Powerslave' or 'Somewhere In Time' perfectly. However, 'Night on Bröcken' is some good levels below these classics. 'Jim Matheos' is a decent guitar player in this record yet his songwriting is still undeveloped. There are too many riffs that are way too similar to 'Iron Maiden' in their style but their quality is inferior. A lot of galloping triplets riffs to be found here alongside typical Maiden dual guitar harmonies, but most of the ideas just goes through the motions and don't reach a distinctive climax. Some pieces, such as 'S.E.K', seems irrelevant and absolute filler. The mentioned track is just a short acoustic guitar interlude that sounds more like a warm up exercise rather than a meaningful interlude. 'Misfit' sounds like a horrible speed metal track without any direction and so is the futile instrumental track 'Shadowfax' that tries so hard to be Iron Maiden's Genghis Khan that it sucks balls.

There are, however, some decent though unimaginative tunes to be found here. 'Buried Alive' is okay with John Arch's presence totally sensed there with his high-pitched, energetic vocals and the riffage is not too bad. 'Soldier Boy' is a bit more complex than the rest of the tracks and has some well-executed lead guitars and catchy riffs. Other than this couple, most of the tracks range from decent, yet boring Maiden cloning to extremely irritating fillers that are utterly futile.

Overall, it could have been a decent ep if half of the material was erased, but it isn't. I don't see a real reason to get this album when you can put on some Iron Maiden instead, but well, each band's gotta start somewhere, and after all, 'Night on Bröcken' isn't too bad for a debut album.

Although I have no particular qualms with the later, Ray Alder era of Connecticut's finest metal band (and in fact enjoy several of his albums), I will always most strongly identify Fates Warning for their first three albums. The John Arch years represent some of the finest American power/speed metal ever conceived, taking a clear influence from Priest and Maiden and then developing upon their strengths with a myriad of charisma. And though Night on Bröcken is perhaps the least impressive of the three, it's still got a charm to transcend the ages, with the bands signature mix of dark, brooding rhythms and Arch's Dickinson-meets-the-stratosphere vocals, which slice right through the mix like harpy claws tearing through the flesh of some witless Argonaut.

Essentially the band's demo material releases as a full album, Night on Bröcken represented the classic lineup in full, with Jim Matheos & Victor Arduini's dual guitar weaving, Joe DiBiase's choppy bass and Steve Zimmerman's stick slinging. The tones of the album hold up very well, with an unsung purity to the melodies and a rather raw perspective when compared to nearly anything they've released since (The Spectre Within and Awaken the Guardian do possess a few of the album's sonic wiles, but with a denser polish and better songwriting). Though the album is not looked upon favorably by the one surviving member of the original lineup (Matheos), I can hardly understand why. It's solid with a great many memorable vocal hooks and guitar lines, all glazed in a rare, nostalgic atmosphere which you simply don't here anymore.

Wailing feedback spearheads "Buried Alive" into a sequence of rugged chords that recall the earlier Queensrÿche for their inherent melody, a band who had only a year's jump start on this one, and an apt comparison: both would eschew their power/speed metal roots for an infusion of progressive nature not long into their careers, with Fates Warning the less commercial of the two. Despite the slew of fetching riffs here, Arch simply dominates, his higher lines pitching and swaying like a twilight air raid siren. "The Calling" moves at a bruising trot, like a more melodic cousin to "The Trooper", with some great, loose drumming and a deep, mysterious guitar rhythm in the verse. "Kiss of Death" bears a clear influence from Accept or Judas Priest, with a vicious guitar rhythm that wouldn't have been out of place on Metallica's Kill 'Em All. Though it might have the crudest composition on the album, it's still got a dose of the band's shrieking character through the vocals, though the leads feel a little sloppy.

"Night on Bröcken" itself is quite a lovely track immersed in the witchcraft and revelry of the German mountain region in older times, and it's got the great fantasy/folklore-driven lyrics which I always so loved from this band (before they got in touch with their 'feelings' and 'reality' like most prog metal bands). This is one of my favorite cuts here, with a beautiful, soaring chorus around 3:30 and some nice segments of acoustic tranquility. "S.E.K." is one of two instrumental pieces on the album, a vibrant, rambling acoustic which lasts about 80 seconds before the early Maiden thunder of "Misfit", a ballsy epic which celebrates the Greek epic/tragic hero, which features some of the better solo work on the album, including a nice morose dual melody before the 3:30 mark.

"Shadowfax" is the second instrumental, though more of a groovy, cruising metal piece which gets rather swashbuckly in the bridge, though the title would imply that it's a tribute to Gandalf's horse, and it does possess a nice charging climax rhythm. The final tracks of the album are its longest (6 minutes and up), beginning with the tranquil plucking harmonics of "Damnation". Here is a beautiful ballad which transforms into a very Sabbath-like power hook before, chock full of amazing melodies from both Arch and the guitars. Along with the title track, this is easily one of my favorite pieces on the album, difficult to forget. "Soldier Boy" is also extremely strong, with graceful melodic riffing that casts a surprisingly ominous shadow beneath the wailing vocal surge. Agan, the guitars break out a kickass dual melody deep into the track, and it all ends in raw cannon fire.

As crude as it might often feel, Night on Bröcken is nonetheless a strong start for the Connecti-cunts, starting a low level of buzz that would sadly only become a roar with the band's shift in vocals and direction. I would easily hold this alongside the early Queensrÿche, Riot, or Omen records as a clear example of American power metal done right, but it also comes with a large amount of nostalgic value. It's the type of album you actually want to listen to on as old a format as you've got around (vinyl or cassette preferred), smoke a cigarette for old time's sake and admire your old, yellowed Eddie posters or your decaying 1st edition AD&D Player's Handbook. It's far from my favorite Fates Warning effort, but a fine debut with a surprising amount of staying power.

Highlights: Night on Bröcken, Misfit, Damnation, Soldier Boy

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Through the history of Heavy Metal there have been many bands who, while starting playing a certain kind of metal, power, thrash, death etc. with the years, changed their style more or less. Fates Warning is a good example. Starting as a power metal band, they turned into more progressive forms. The outcome though, is debatable. Personally I prefer their very first attempts.

Fates first baby was born in 1984 and was named Night on Broken. It was a great sample of heavy-power metal consisted of nine songs. In my opinion the band was very lucky to have John Arch as their singer. Though not a perfect voice, his style of singing fitted perfectly with the band’s songs. The first song of the album is Buried Alive and states exactly their intentions. To play loud and simple power metal. The lyrics speak about a man who is unfairly imprisoned for many years and is trying to make his way out, with no luck in the end. A really powerful introduction from the band. At this point I must not forget to mention the presence of Jim Matheos, one of the best guitarists ever.

Next, we have The Calling. It is a five minute song that begins with a steady riff and gets a bit faster after three minutes. The truth is that there is nothing special in any of the songs but this is the beauty of it. All the songs are equal besides one or two exceptions. They have simple riffs that get into your mind. Such is Kiss of Death, the third song. Nice bass and drum playing by Dibase and Zimmerman who know their part in the album.

Then comes one of the exceptions I spoke of earlier. The self-titled song is a power metal diamond. A faster one with a galloping rhythm that makes a beautiful change somewhere in the middle when Matheos delivers a wonderful guitar solo. Night on Broken is followed by S.E.K which is a small instrumental with acoustic guitar. It gives us a little time to relax before we go on to…

Misfit, that is another metal dynamite and one of the best songs written by Fates Warning. You must be very careful when you listen to this one because it causes severe head and neck injuries with its constant headbanging. Trust me, I know something about it!! And still you want to play it again and again enjoying every minute of it. Shadowfax is the second instrumental of the album. It would be unfair to say something bad about it because I am not really a fan of instrumental songs, so let’s just say that it is a nice piece of work. Please, those of you who are Fates fans, do not criticize me wrong if you feel offended.

As we are moving on, Damnation begins with two and a half minutes of acoustic guitar before it turns into an epic. Many bands would like to have written this song. I have heard opinions saying that Fates Warning is influenced by Iron Maiden. Well, the truth is that you will find of Maiden in Damnation but there is no shame in that. The band saves another fine piece for the end. Soldier Boy is there to remind us how futile war is and how men are prepared to kill from their childhood, convinced that it is either kill or be killed. It is a small surprise to me that Fates are dealing with a matter like this but after all, heavy metal is music played by normal people, right?

I am not trying to persuade fans to just ignore the latest albums of Fates Warning but I will say that their first three releases and especially Night on Broken are miles ahead than what they did later on.

Few days ago the witches and wizards celebrated Walpurgis Night spectacularly. We all gathered in the darkness on the pinnacles of nearby mountains and chanted songs with which we sent shivers down the spine of mortal people. The number one during the coven was "Fates Warning is heard! Run shivers up and down the spine of those who believe...". Debut album of this band shouldn't have been released in that form in which it did have been released because the musicians treated it only as a demo tape. However the label knew better and so on the autumn of 1984 'Night On Bröcken' was released.

The title itself already implicates black magic, witches, Satan and concrete darkness. The original cover maybe diminishes the effect, but since a gloomy vulture is hiding in the tree everything is OK. Walpurgis night begins when the full moon casts pale light upon the coven, practising their rituals at the mountain of Bröcken. Blasphemous creatures are telling each other the tales of premature burials like in finest works of Edgar Allan Poe, of ghastly phantom-woman, consequences that Judas is going to face after his death, terrible vengeance of the cursed knight, ancient race willing to drown humanity in their own blood, insane children or the Walpurgis Night itself. How do they tell them? In a very NWOBHM way, not only Maiden, but also Angel Witch or Tygers Of Pan Tang alike. However the whole musical concept is chiefly based on 'The Number of The Beast' ideas with a little addition of American views on the sound and roughness of the guitar, Accept's riffs in one or two songs and Judas Priest and Black Sabbath influences, especially in slower parts. 'SEK' is obviously inspired by Sabbath's Orchid and conjures up an image of misty heathland.

The compositions here are rather simple with an exception of 'Damnation' which is clearly a prelude to the Fates' future style. The rest is an energetic, fast and classic 80's metal. The album has it's weak sides unfortunately, namely 'Shadowfax' and 'Misfit' sound like there were no idea at all behind them. Technically the album lacks a lot as well - John Arch is not the same singer as he would be a year later. He sounds very clumsy and too often he tries to imitate Bruce Dickinson, but already here something is telling the listener that there is much more in this guy. His vocal harmonies in The Calling', 'Damnation' and 'Night On Bröcken' are simply great! Jim Matheos as a second very important person in the band has great solos and very powerful riffs but plays under his abilities I guess. He doesn't experiment with rhythm and progression yet. He is just a good guitar craftsman on this album. One can hear a great influence of Judas and Maiden in his parts. Basically these two guys make the album something interesting, the rest in a standard filling background.

Night On Bröcken is an only clearly heavy-metal album in the career of this great prog-metal pioneers and because of that it is a little bit underrated. I recommend to listen is as a enjoyable, dynamic classic heavy-metal not as a start of Fates Warning.

In times gone by the phenomenon of the Bröcken spectre used to enchant and awe the pagans who revelled atop the famous mountain in Germany at the festival of Walpurgisnacht. Standing at its peak at sunset, a person's shadow could be cast upon the surface of the clouds below, magnified to enormity by an optical illusion and surrounded by bands of startling colour. In modern times, magic has more or less gone out of the world. We have discovered the reason behind such wonders, and as such they become mere tricks of light and fog, random shadow puppets. But there are still moments that can reduce us to an awestruck state of bemused wonder. Such is the catalogue of Fates Warning.

Because you, you're the one I
saw in flight, at Walpurgis Night.
You've betrayed and cursed the light,
at Walpurgis Night.
You're the one I saw in flight,
at Walpurgis Night.
At the setting of the sun.

- 03:28 of "Night on Bröcken"

Tucked in amongst youthful naivety and infatuation with riff, we are first allowed a glimpse of the mist-shrouded majesty that is early Fates Warning, this heart-crushing refrain so sheer in it's magnitude that it represents the very core of what this heavy metal music is. It soars like the choicest Maiden, really without any other obvious comparison given that venerable band's dominance of this very specific aspect of metal, ethereal Arch at his best (if not as melodically arcane as he later became).

Night on Bröcken is generally a galloping, straight-forward metal record outside of mountain-moving moments like the latter part of the title track, Matheos and fellow axe-slinger Victor Arduini trying on and discarding various riffing styles, sifting through the costume warehouse for one to call their own. This is basically one of the early upratchets on the NWOBHM, Fates at this point in back of the pack refining and industrializing the innovations of that rag-tag collective into the central tenants of what has become metallic standard operating procedure, bolting tight the homespun looseness of the Grim Reapers and Pictures of the world and making their music fit for the assembly line.

Given that many of these songs date back to at least 1983, one can imagine the band riding up to the record store and purchasing The Number of the Beast, taking it home and listening to it solemnly with nary a bang of the head before pulling out their weapons of choice and summarily tearing said hallowed relic to shreds. We can do that, but we can be faster, louder, higher... and given my fairly low opinion of the sum total of that album historical relevance aside, Bröcken does the job.

The album probably doesn't receive a fair shake given what followed, but this slashes a swath through pretty much anything stylistically similar that predated it. The talent here is not by any means fully developed, but one listen to opening wallop "Buried Alive" with it's Scorpions-like lead 'caps' and "Without a Trace"-worthy riffage (song not show) or "Misfit" which sports a foundation cribbed from the heftiest stockpile of Angel Witch compositions and it becomes clear that this is about the finest mid-tier metal on the market as of '84.

The album doesn't have any real pooches to speak of, although instrumental "Shadowfax" is pretty much a waste of time (see "Losfer Words" from Powerslave) and "The Calling" is rather inconsistent, but there are moments where the sound is unflatteringly dated and formulaic, the riffs and even vocal melodies rather stock. John Arch has yet to completely find his footing as a vocalist, spending more time in his lower register and sometimes revealing a bit of strain on the high notes. On the plus side, he isn't quite as nasal as on later recordings which might make this performance his most instantly accessible, and while rarely straying from standard metal lyrical terrain reveals an early talent for compelling narrative and almost impeccable phrasing.

As BARD very astutely observed, with the exception of the title track, closing epic "Soldier Boy" is the best track on the album. The song is built around a fairly novel lyrical conceit, connecting the idea of violent play with war and even featuring a rather abstract chorus ("First sight of blood at ten/fell off the swing and cracked his head, it's all red"). Arch gets somewhat bent with his melodies and future time signature juggler Steve Zimmerman gets a touch busier, but really this is the quintessential pre-progressive Fates song. The stars are Matheos and Arduini, an Accept-able military Saxon death-march riff crunching along until the pair simply explode come break time, slinging together quick fret runs and sharp harmonies without regard for such delicacies as dynamic.

As this disc spins in my player, I imagine Fates Warning as they were, ignorant to the path their career would take, intoxicated with possibility. This is where Fates came from, Judas Priest and Diamond Head and Trance and the rest of the crew, and it's important for those who look down on these 'baser' influences to remember that when they're contemplating the band's more mature and composed 90’s works. Everybody has to come from somewhere, and there are sure as hell worse places than this, which I think Jim Matheos might do well to remember.

Stand-Outs: "Night on Bröcken", "Soldier Boy", "Buried Alive"