Fright Night

Fright Night is a debut that sounds hard, dark heavy metal, a little different from the glittering stylistic beauty later Stratovarius would establish. Around Timo Tolkki, the band’s founder, who in this period handled both guitar and vocals, the songs move between speed and a somehow uneasy, tense air. A rough first step for a new metal band emerging from Finland. The aggression of the opener “Future Shock,” the drama of the title track “Fright Night” and cuts like “Black Night,” “Witch Hunt” and “Fire Dance” are full of a hard-edged, dark appeal particular to the early days. A musicality clearly different from the later bright, grand power metal, yet a sure flash of talent can be seen within it. Though it contains many rough parts, it is a record that inscribes the process of the band gropingly seeking its own musical idiom. It already clearly holds a sure orientation toward beautiful melody and a powerful playing drive. As the origin of the later brilliant career, it is a valuable, important debut — the budding of Tolkki’s talent felt within.