NIGHT ON BRÖCKEN

For those who are not familiar in the story of this band, there are two groups exist under the same name. John Arch was the singer in the band called Fates Warning, but after the third album a new singer arrived and a new band was born that plays exacting progressive metal, namely Fates Warning, while the 'other' Fates Warning disappeard. Now I'm talking about the first one which played complex heavy metal in the vein of Iron Maiden and early Queensryche. I'd like to draw two tracks to your attention, the brilliant title track 'Night on Bröcken', which is a precursor to what was to come on the next two albums and the excellent ballad 'Damnation' with yet another excellent vocal performance by John Arch.

The remastered version (its cover is the original painting, which is ridiculously amateur) also contains a demo track, a live song and 2 songs from rehearsals, one of them is an Iron Maiden cover (Flight of Icarus). It's a great debut from a unique metal band, but the best album from the Arch-era (and in the whole Fates discography) is "Awaken The Guardian".

Highlights: Buried Alive, Night on Bröcken, Damnation, Soldier Boy

5.5/10