Soldiers of the Night

I don't think there's a single word out there that could do this album justice. Perfection, perhaps. This disc is hands down quite possibly the greatest debut I have ever heard for a band that's been highly active since. And once you've given this album a listen, you instantly realize this is Vicious Rumors. This is their style, their own genre and sound, their formula. "Soldiers of the Night" is their flawless blueprints that they would always follow for the rest of their career. There's enough speed here to have them thrown in the speed / power genre, there's enough emotion and diversity to have them thrown into the progressive genre, there's enough technical skill on here that could have very well landed them under Shrapnel Records roof. This delivers, beyond words.

The lineup here is pretty flawless. Vocalist Gary St. Pierre may not be Carl Albert, but he is without a doupt the closest vocalist you'll ever get to Carl. Fans of Carl, will probably have absolutely no problem falling in love with Gary St. Pierre's vocals here. He's the same in practically every way. Huge range, mid-range singing, tons of sharp aggression. The guitar duo of Vicious Rumor's legendary Geoff Thorpe and Vinnie Moore will shock you. The leads they pull out are some of the most mesmerizing rhythm's you'll ever hear. The solo's are so technical, you may very well put these guys up against Racer X, Cacophony, and whatnot. The guitar instrumental number "Invader" fully fortifies these statements. Both the bass work from Dave Starr (my god listen to "Blistering Winds"), and the fast drumming from Larry Howe put this at the tip of the iceberg in the realm of perfection. Their lineup stays pretty consistent after this as well, besides the replacement of guitarist Vinnie Moore for "Digital Dictator".

Everything that makes Vicious Rumors is set in stone here. The totally out of this world atmosphere is there throughout the entire album, even dark at times. It gives off a lot of emotion with the music. Their aggressive background yelling and distorting vocal effects are here as well (think of Thrash bands), that they're known to do a lot throughout their career. The whole album is very consistent, and there's no case of fillers here at all. I can't even decide what my favorite song on here is, because the entire thing is so damn good. To top all of this off, the production is phenomenal for its time, and there's still quite a raw edge to it. The sound quality could probably best be compared to Helstar, Jag Panzer, Metal Church, etc of -that- time (~1985).

When I look back and compare this ablum to other bands of the time, Vicious Rumors is just really in a world of their own. You absolutely cannot throw them into a single genre, and there's practically no other band out there that sounds remotely like them as a whole. This would be, hands down the best entry into the band if you've never heard of them before or want to check them out. I will go to further argue this album is even better than a handful of Vicious Rumors later releases. Fans of classic heavy, speed, thrash, power, progressive, techically adept metal should fall in love with this instantly. There's no choice here, you MUST get this!

Everything that makes Vicious Rumors what they are is here, carved in stone. "Soldiers of the Night", a legendary cult masterpiece. A flawless victory!