ICED EARTH — Night of the Stormrider (review)

ICED EARTH — Night of the Stormrider album cover Album · 1991 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
1967/ 1976
Difficult to judge this album? NO!!!

And in fact for me "NIght Of The Stormrider" is a pure masterpiece!!!

But, I think, this album is great because the music is magical! In a certain sense "Night Of The Stormrider" is a sort of definitive Dio/ Powell/ Blackmore's Rainbow album! And this my conviction is the same conviction that God exist!!!

The first song is "Angels Holocaust" which has an intro from "Carmina Burana" truly excellent if I think that this song is a pure Symphonic Thrash song!!! The style of this concept album is various song by song. And in fact "Stormrider" is a pure Prog Power Metal with a great guitar riffs and rhythmic soli. Also the vocals (I've 2001 version) are great! This song (which inspired the cover) is very (too) evocative and whenever I listen to seems to be the title character! What about "The Path The Choose"? That here the slaughterhouse sound dominates the song! Very aggressive and rhythmic guitars spewing lava imprison the mind of the listener forcing him to a dimension of warfare and darkness!!! Another lesson of Prog Metal... Also if this song is only a pure Power Metal song! "Before The Vision" is a sort of acoustic Song of lightening, very evocative and with great tension. "Mystical End" is only a great Power Metal in pure tradition of Traditional Metal. "Desert Rain" is one of those songs that every band should be able to write and make topical dands as Rush, Rainbow, Cacophony, Progressive Rock and the Bay Area Thrash, since it is the perfect summary of this mix! And all this in a song that is pure Power Metal... And that it sounds so much like Richard Wagner! "Pure Evil"... Is so natual... So powerful... So technical... So evocative... So Powerful... Yet it is an elementary song, colorful... Pays high tribute to Rainbow (Dio/ Powell/ Blackmore)and to Flotsam And Jetsam but it is very personal. "Reaching The End" is an acoustic smoky bridge to "Travel in Stygian", another Masterpiece in this album. Simply song... Evocative song... This melodic(!?!) slaughterhouse sound song present the better best vocal proof by John Greely. The acoustic part (Bridge) is simply devastating, combined with the next chorus! I'm not the damage being carried by Charon. But it's as if I'm this damned soul! Every time I hear this song takes my anxiety... The heart runs fast... Salivation is reduced to zero... Yet the charge that my body has to dissipate is enormous... I do not know why, but come to an end the tension vanishes and the desire to race in a flowery meadow become unhealthy deviation of pure pleasure!

Hmm... Probably "Night Of The Stormrider" is the devastating studio album of my personal Metal discography. I must say that another album so perfect I do not have yet found. And I must say again, with great pleasure, so that an album must be heard several times in order to be understood!
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