About 23 years ago I wrote the following about Iced Earth:For a brief period in the early to mid 1990's, a music movement known as "progressive thrash" thrived in the underground clubs and magazines of the day. Take two parts Metallica riffing, one part Iron Maiden song craft and one part Fates Warning style invention and you have an idea what the sound entails. One of the best at this style were Florida's own Iced Earth... By their second album, Night of the Stormrider, Iced Earth had honed their craft. Each song contains speedy riff after riff and plenty of metronomic activity to challenge the discerning listener. The vocals are clean but deep and heavy.
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It seems every time I hear this album, I give it a +1. I'm almost at the very top now. Everything about this album is perfect - from the atmosphere, to the riffing, the production, onto the compositions, even the much maligned vocals. And it's not even their best album! That goes to its successor Burnt Offerings. The album is super from the first note to the last.
Ownership: CD: 1992 Century Media. Jewel case with lyric booklet. Love the cover. Acquired at Life by Design here in the Springs on my first tour of duty living here (1994). Great store, but it didn't last but a couple of years.
Best I can tell, this album didn't come out in the States until the following year. The first pressings were released in Germany and Europe. They were still pressing LP's in Germany, and this did get a vinyl release. They used a different cover, and I definitely prefer the US version.
1994; 3/29/01 (Gnosis); 12//04; 4/1/16; 11/3/17; 1/23/24 (new entry)
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