Night of the Stormrider

Night of the Stormrider
Studio album by Iced Earth
Released	November 1st, 1991 (Europe) April 30, 1992 (US)
Recorded	Fullersound Studios
Genre	Thrash metal, Power metal
Length	46:06
Label	Century Media
Producer	Tom Morris
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Iced Earth chronology
Iced Earth (1990) Night of the Stormrider (1991) Burnt Offerings (1995)
Alternative cover
Remastered cover

Night of the Stormrider is American heavy metal band Iced Earth's second full-length album. It is a concept album about a man who is betrayed by religion and turns away from it in anger. The dark forces of nature reach out to this enraged man and use him as their vessel to bring death and destruction to Earth. He is commanded to travel to a desert, where he is given visions that reveal the truth of humanity, and warp his mind further to make him the "Stormrider." After the destruction of the world, he is then damned forever into the depths of Hell, also referenced as the River Styx. After being forever damned and taunted by evil spirits, he eventually sees what he has done, and realizes that it is too late to repent.

Night of the Stormrider is the only album featuring lead singer John Greely (who was later fired) and drummer Rick Secchiari. Like the album's predecessor Iced Earth, Night of the Stormrider is mostly a thrash metal release, the main reason being that the album is unusually riff-based when compared to other Iced Earth releases, and Greely's vocals, which are slightly more aggressive than the power metal reminiscent vocals of Matt Barlow.

Track listing

Bonus track (2008 re-release)

Personnel

• Jon Schaffer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, producer
• John Greely – vocals
• Randall Shawver – lead guitar, solo
• Dave Abell – bass guitar
• Rick Secchiari – drums

Additional personnel

• Roger "The Hammer" Huff – keyboards

Production

• Axel Hermann – cover art
• Kent Smith – introduction
• Tom Morris – producer
• Frank Albrecht – photography
• Dirk Rudolph – layout design
• Rick Borstelman – back cover

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2008)

• Iced Earth re-released all of their work previous to The Dark Saga in 2001 in the form of a collectors box set entitled Dark Genesis. Each album was remixed and remastered with vastly improved sound quality and an updated album cover. Those albums are now available individually. Notable differences are a shorter 'Before The Vision' with some spoken vocals removed, and a different guitar sound on Mystical End.
• Many songs released by Iced Earth previous to the album The Dark Saga were redone on the 1997 album Days of Purgatory with new vocal tracks by vocalist Matt Barlow, new drum and/or guitar tracks, and remixed for superior sound quality. From this album, all of the songs except "The Path I Choose" and "Mystical End" were re-recorded, though a live recording of "The Path I Choose" featuring Barlow on vocals later appeared on "Alive In Athens".
• Rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer does the vocals on the song "Stormrider".
• Schaffer and Greely trade vocals in "Desert Rain".
• The first track "Angels Holocaust" features a variation on a theme from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.