Night of the Stormrider

The first Iced Earth record was a successful job, but it still remained rough, without putting into action its full potential. However, already the following year the one to raise the level was Night of the Stormrider, first of a long list of concept albums and undoubtedly one of the best among them.

The style is still the violent and merciless one of the first album, but the songwriting is more refined and epic. If Iced Earth began with the guitar equivalent of swallowing broken glass, Night of the Stormrider's first track, Angels holocaust, starts with apocalyptic bells and a chorus that closely resembles an accelerated vision of O fortuna by Carmina Burana. This may be quite usual today, but given the era, when power metal was just born and symphonic metal barely sketched out, it is a startling and impactful start, although it lasts less than a minute. The rest of the song, after the martial rhythm of the percussions, rests on a melancholy acoustic arpeggio before starting to alternate with the now familiar and unmistakable fast, compact and overwhelming style. The choruses that continue to insert themselves from time to time between the desperate cries that make up the stanzas maintain the epic component, also underlined by the dark speech that precedes the solo. Combined, the music and the lyrics bring out well the emotions of the protagonist of the story: the anger and pain of a man now betrayed by everything he believed in. Stormrider opens with a disturbing keyboard melody and then takes on a pounding and tight rhythm, while the titular character slowly takes shape, rising from the ashes of the disappointment exposed in Angels Holocaust. The instrumental parts are once again excellent, as intricate as they are perfect in maintaining the atmosphere, evoking a furious and unstoppable storm. The refrain is perhaps not the most satisfying, but at least the high quality of the vocal performance does not make the whole piece look bad. The path I choose has the merit of a nuanced and very evocative vocalization in the introduction, which contrasts enough with the granite riffs. The rhythm and the voice change continuously and even if this slightly damages the memorability of the piece, they reveal a great technical ability. The atmosphere in the middle of the song becomes even more bleak and otherworldly thanks to the splendid solo, the menacing slowness of the following riff and the icy keyboards audible at regular intervals before the main melody, fast and heavy, resumes. The final cry is impressive, especially in contrast to the solemn keyboards in the background.

Before the vision is very short and completely acoustic. Even if the speech is intriguing enough at the beginning, the beauty of the clean singing is unforgettable. Another particularly successful piece is Mystical end, with an extremely pleasant riff that gives a sustained rhythm and a hypnotic melody. The result is vaguely similar to an Iron Maiden song, but in a minor key. The slowdown before the ending is not a fault at all, thanks to the sinuous movement of the guitar and the cavernous sound of the bass. Desert rain has another effective intro that actually harks back to a pouring of acid rain on barren land, then resumes as furious as ever. After a couple of minutes of regular playing, one of the most dense and intense instrumental parts of the album begins. The voice becomes eerie and desperate as it narrates the protagonist's total corruption. The next part, slower, almost manages to evoke the opening of the wings of a cruel and monstrous beast.

In Pure Evil, Armageddon has now begun, and again the pace is fast and violent, the voice possessed by the horror and excitement of battle. In short, it does not differ particularly from the canons, but it is extremely intense and evocative. The high, screeching sounds during the short interlude only add to the creepyness, which culminates in a shiver with almost unnatural screams. The beginning and the end are slower but with no less horrifying tones. Reaching the end is once again very short, just over a minute, and shares the characteristics of Before the vision, except for the tone, which perfectly reproduces the resigned pain of one condemned to hell and aware that it is too late to repent. The closing notes seem to irremediably mark fate, leaving a sense of inescapable despair. Travel in Stygian instead is the longest. At the beginning it is quite regular, if not for the particularly shrill voice which suggests that there is no longer any hope for redemption. The acoustic part returns to the clean vocals, cold and suffering, to soon leave room for keyboards and choirs, and for the first time to a well recognizable and breathtaking refrain, to which also contributes the versatility of the voice, which passes from from being clear and sharp to a dirty and ferocious bark several times in a matter of seconds. The gait of the guitar and the drums is menacing while the verdict of eternal suffering is pronounced by an infernal voice. The refrain, effectively emphasized by the backing vocals and keyboards, is the perfect closure for a record like this, together with the desolate and mournful piano melody that occupies the last minute of the song.

The technique is, as in the case of the first album, flawless, but the composition is much more accurate and fascinating. The new singer, John Greely, is far more talented than his predecessor, with an incredibly wide vocal range and a very versatile voice. But this album wouldn't be as good without the lyrics. They have evidently been worked to perfection, and convey in a more than incisive way the hatred, the destructive will and the anguish that take possession of the protagonist on his journey towards perdition and after his transformation into a servant of evil.

Night of the Stormrider is the record that has consecrated Iced Earth as a band of great quality and an excellent example of a concept album done well. Overall it is very reminiscent of a King Diamond album, but with a touch of power metal in the speed of the melodies. Listening to it is a genuinely exciting and unmissable experience for any metalhead.

Best tracks: Travel in Stygian, Mystical end, Pure evil