''Night of the Stormrider'' is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

, released in 1991 through

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

. It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

centered on an idea that was created by the band's leader

Jon Schaffer Jon Ryan Schaffer (born March 15, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician. He is the rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter of the Indiana-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name Purgatory. He is also the ...

. ''Night of the Stormrider'' is the only Iced Earth album to feature lead singer John Greely and drummer Rick Secchiari. The album was re-released in a remixed and remastered version in 2002 by producer Jim Morris.

Concept meaning

The album's concept is 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 In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

. 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.

Track listing

All lyrics and music written by

, except where noted.

Personnel

Iced Earth *John Greely – vocals *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (on track 2), co-producer *Randall Shawver – lead guitar *Dave Abell – bass *Rick Secchiari – drums Additional musicians *Roger Huff – keyboards *Kent Smith - keyboards Other personnel *Tom Morris – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Jim Morris - mixing, mastering (on 2002 remixed & remastered version) *Axel Hermann –

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

* Travis Smith – artwork (on 2002 remixed & remastered version) *Rick Borstelman – artwork *Frank Albrecht – photography *Dirk Rudolph –

layout Layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), a proposed page layout presented by a designer to their client * Layout (computing), the process of calculating the position of obje ...

*Philipp Schulte - product coordination

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Night of the Stormrider 1991 albums Iced Earth albums Century Media Records albums Concept albums Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording