ICED EARTH - Night Of The Stormrider LP (Blue/Black Marble Vinyl)

Released in a glossy gatefold cover.

Iced Earth stands as one of the most wronged bands when it comes to commercial success. The blend of power and thrash metal was something that was tried before—think Blind Guardian on “Follow The Blind”—but it never really reached the peak it should have had, since power metal and thrash metal influences were more akin to two fighters duking it out over the trophy rather than combining their efforts—which is a shame, as they are for all intents and purposes, quite closely related. Iced Earth managed to do it laughably easy on the self-titled debut and then further improve it on this record. And here is where the true shame lies. If these two albums were released maybe two or three years earlier, when metal still had some commercial viability, Iced Earth could have taken a piece of the pie—something that unfortunately didn't happen. However, even if they were wronged commercially, those who discovered the band had quite a treat for themselves, as pretty much most of Iced Earth's discography is worth checking out—particularly their 90s material, where in the USA they were the only form of resistance to the short-lived wave of grunge, and later on against the late-90s wasteland of nu metal and alternative rock. One listen to “Night Of The Stormrider” and it is very easy to understand why. It’s Iced Earth’s first Mt. Everest-like peak as a band—for some, their highest peak—but fortunately, it would not be the only one.