Iced Earth's Reviews

Night of the Stormrider

One of the Greatest Moments in the History of Rock Music

I know that's one heck of a bizarre way to begin a review, but I feel an apology must be said, right off the bat. What exactly am I apologizing about, most of you are (no doubt) asking? Simply this. I'm so sorry that up till now, it's taken me my FIFTH review to write about an Iced Earth album; it's practically shameful. The band deserves much more respect than that. Anyways, with that out of the way, I'll begin with what most of you no doubt really want to read about, the review!

I first heard of Iced Earth in about 9th grade by means of an advertisement inside of a music magazine, Hit Parader I think it was. I really didn't think much of it, until about a year later, in Sophmore year, when my friend starting ranting and raving about this amazing (American!)band called Iced Earth and how they'd quickly became his favorite band. Recalling the magazine ad of last year, I decided to give the band a shot and went down to my local Sam Goody to pick up my first Iced Earth cd. I happened upon Night of the Stormrider (which I discovered, later on, I was more than lucky to find, considering how rare that cd was to find in conventional record stores in those days.) I didn't really know it was a concept album. I didn't really know what Iced Earth sounded like. All I knew was that I was about to take one of the biggest musical risks of my life (at the time, anyways) and I bought the cd and took it home to have a listen.

It's difficult to go on at this point. You see, it's really rather hard to put into precise words what happened next, when I really can't tell you exactly when it was that the true brilliance of these heavy hitting and intricate guitar riffs shone through to me, or where I was when I realized that I freakin' LOVED this band, or how I felt when I realized that my whole perception of music as I knew it was about to be changed. All I can tell you is just how good this album is.

Jon Schaffer is a mastermind. He really is just what rock n' roll needs these days. It was really only a guy like this that could make a heavy metal album that so deeply reflected the spirit of rock n roll while showing the world his own new and incedibly powerful style. It is this style that entrances you into the story the Stormrider and the dark world he lives in, brought to vivid life through deadly guitar riffs, pounding drums, thoughtful lyrics, and fantastic melody. The band was young at the time, and the idea of creating a concept album after only one previus album in their catalgue was an ambitious one, a move few bands, if any, would ever dare to do. But Schaffer's confidence in his band was strong, and Iced Earth emerged in the year 1992 with a sophomore effort of a quality most bands couldn't achieve after decades in the game.

Night of the Stormrider is an album of power, and album of vigor, and an album of glorious music. From the epic opening of Angel's Holocaust to the closing chaos of Travel in Stygian, this album takes you on one hell of a ride and doesn't let go. After more and more listens the power of the music really shines though and you can get the full impact of this heavy metal tour de force.

I could seriously go on forever about this band and this album, but I'm going to wrap it up here. Iced Earth is a fatastic band, one of the saving graces of new 90's bands, and this is their best album. Though Schaffer's songwiting matures by leaps and bounds in later albums, (and most importantly, in their vocal deptartment) this is the guys at their fastest, their most powerful, their most dramatic, and their most important. All I can tell you from here is to buy this album, you'd be denying yourself a huge chapter in the history of musical greatness if you didn't. And that's something you can't afford to miss.

Buy this album on Amazon at $14.99