Iced Earth United States
"This album is one of the reasons why Iced Earth are one of the great power metal legends. Everything about this album rocks - even the vocalist, John Greely, who was eventually fired - does a good job, although his vocal technique is rather standard.
The music is epic, yet quite aggressive, which is reflected in the aggressive-yet-catchy choruses (like "Fight on, grab on, StormRIDer, StormRIDer" or "This is the path that IIII CHOOOSE"). Although most of the songs are centered around Jon Shaffer's insanely fast galloping guitar riffs, the album is actually quite varied with a lot of changes, twists and turns (possibly owing to Shaffer's fascination with Iron Maiden).
"Night of the Stormrider" has been described as a thrash metal album; I don't know if I think it's thrash metal, but it certainly is more aggressive that your stereotypical power metal band. I also like how most of the epicness is achieved through the classic rock band instrumentation, and when keyboards and choir-effects are used (like in the opener), the degree of cheesiness is kept at an absolute minimum.
This album is an absolute must in any power metal collection."
""The Dark Saga" is less aggressive than earlier releases by power metal behemoths Iced Earth, and it is also more straightforward with less twists and turns and shorter songs. I think that there are also more corny elements that on previous releases, but, thankfully, we are not cast into Cheese Hell.
I really like Jon Schaffer's psycho-galloping guitar-riffs, but these are not as prominently features on this albums (there's some typical Schaffer riffage in"Vengeance is Mine", though). This is not a weakness though, as it frees up some space for other things like twin leads, clean guitars on top of distorted ones, and heavier riffs. Some tracks, like "Dark Saga", "I Died for You", are"Scarred", are quite melancholic and contain several ballad elements. There is also a lot of emphasis on melodic vocal lines (which fits Matt Barlow's unique voice quite well).
There are also fast, almost thrashy tracks like "Violate", which contains some pretty cool breakdowns and some insane vocal lines, too, and "The Last Laugh".
Certainly recommended to fans of power metal, and I think that fans of traditional metal will appreciate it, too."
"Once you get used to the vocals, this is not half bad. While neither as experimental nor as progressively oriented as Mercyful Fate, Iced Earth's effort on this album does remind me a bit of MF - but Iced Earth certainly try, and some of their songs in this album are rather dynamic in structure. The lyrical content, nihilistic and postmodern in nature, offers some interesting perspectives on apocalypse, emotions and reincarnation."
"It's larger than life but not pompous. It's melodic but not cheesy. It's powerful but not brutal. It's epic but not longwinded. It's symphonic but not grandiose. It's elegant but not ball-less. It's complex but not mindboggling. It's rock but not roll. It's power metal. It's Iced Earth.
(apologies for sounding like a French perfume advertisement)"
"Sorry for so many positive reviews, but it's natural to rate one's favorite albums first. This album is from a truly great metal band that very few people know about. I had the priviledge of seeing these guys live in concert. Unfortunately, not many people showed up to the concert, but the band played their hearts out. I think that truly speaks for the quality and passion that these guys put into their music. This album is probably my favorite of theirs, and is considered by many to be their best. I also recommend the album This Glorious Burden to prog fans. It's a concept album about the civil war. If you get the limited edition version, it comes on two discs with a pair of very epic songs on the second. Great band, check these guys out!"
"As with many IE albums, this is a concept album. THe theme is recurring through out Jon's albums - A man striving to redeem himself from past sins and mistakes he has made (In the Dark Saga this will be featured again). The production is "dirty" and fits the music. It has this 80's metal sound, very fast guitar riffs and high pitched vocals. THe opening and closing tracks are the best and most emotional tracks. IMHO, this is still their best album to date and it still has the old IE sound that began to change on Burnt Offerings and Dark Saga and completely changed on Something Wicked..."
