Warthur Like its predecessor, I don't think Virgin Steele's second The Marriage of Heaven and Hell album quite measures up to the glories of Invictus, the third album in the triptych, but it's still an interesting classic and symphonic-influenced power metal experience given a mild boost thanks to the interesting allegorical direction the lyrics take and the high quality of the band's performance. David DeFeis' vocals are energising enough but I keep finding myself missing the rawer, more feral edge they have to them on songs like the title track from Invictus. Worth checking out if you liked the first in the series, but be advised that the best is yet to come.

Warthur Capturing Virgin Steele in the process of transitioning into an American-style power metal outfit from their traditional heavy metal roots, and working in a symphonic touch here and there, I found this album somewhat less gripping than the curiously compelling Invictus, not least because it's mildly more inclined to indulge some of the cheesier excesses of power metal than they are on that subsequent release (which I understand the two Marriage of Heaven and Hell albums are thematic prequels to). Still, as far as ambitious multi-part concept album projects go, this isn't a terrible kick-off to one, and it entertains me much more than it annoys me so I consider it fairly passable.

voilà_la_scorie Oh, boy, do I remember this one. “The album Judas Priest should have made” was the critic’s quote about Virgin Steele’s debut in an ad promoting the new album in Circus Magazine. I was adventurous when it came to finding new metal bands and to liken a band to my heroes Judas Priest was like opening my wallet to the nearest record store to have this on cassette. The Canadian release, however, was different from the American one. First, it was called “Burn the Sun” and featured a plain red cover with the album title and band name branded on in black. My best friend picked up his secure purchase of a band he knew he liked while I took my experiment back to his place.

After listening to the single off the album my friend bought, we put in “Burn the Sun” and the album opened with the synthesizer heavy “Don’t Say Goodbye (Tonight)”. My friend burst into laughter. I asked him to skip to the next track as his stereo came with one of those features where you could skip tracks on cassette, and the piano chords of “A Cry in the Night” came up next. He laughed even more. Next track. This was “I am the One” which wasn’t included on the American release and opened with gentle acoustic guitar strumming. My friend was in tears by this time, laughing at me for having wasted my precious paper route earnings on this rubbish.

But it was I who had the last laugh. I refused to be beaten and took the cassette home where I listened to it front to back. I discovered that the gentle acoustic opening to “I am the One” was just an intro to one of the heavier and totally rock-out aggressive songs on the album. The title track of the Canadian release, “Burn the Sun” was definitely in the same league as Judas Priest. “Guardians of the Flame” was an epic metal track that had some unfortunate wild synthesizer solo but was otherwise very good. Other songs followed a more standard metal course along the lines of, say, Y&T but with a New York feel as opposed to the California outlook of Y&T. “Don’t Say Goodbye (Tonight)” did lean a little too much on the synthesizer for my taste but still it galloped along in a traditional 80’s metal flair. “A Cry in the Night” was a gentle piano ballad that was good enough but didn’t match some of the power ballads we were hearing in those days. Overall, I liked the album enough to buy the debut (also with different cover and track listing in Canada) and when “Noble Savage” came out I snickered at the irony of my best friend spending his hard-earned paper route earnings on it.

So, back in late 2011, I decided to track down this old classic and bring “Burn the Sun” and “I am the One” back to my music collection. The remastered disc includes all the original tracks from the American release, “Guardians of the Flame” (some of which I hadn’t heard) as well as the songs that were on Canada’s “Burn the Sun”. As it turns out, the more aggressive tracks had been saved for Canada! This disc also includes an interview with the band around the time of the album’s release and some bonus live tracks.

How does the album sound now? Admittedly, the recording quality is pretty poor, though not as bad as the first album. It was recorded in someone’s home studio, I think. “I am the One”, “Burn the Sun” and “Guardians of the Flame” still hold up like those old blues albums from the 1930’s hold up. Other songs like "Go Down Fighting" and "Metal City" sound pretty trite and cliche now. I can picture young headbangers in leopard skin-pattern spandex with feathered hair thinking this is the bomb, but these days it sounds really dated. Still, fun at the time. The other tracks are not bad but for me they are also forgettable.

How do I feel about spending my hard-earned teaching money on this CD – imported from the US – now? It’s OK. I still love two of those old tracks and from time to time I’ll drop this in my iPhone and give it a listen. It is a perfect relic from those days when metal was making a comeback. It captures the boldness of making an album that was meant to nudge the boundaries of metal into new directions (power metal perhaps?) and the rawness of home studio recording. Jack Starr delivers on the guitar and David Defeis has his trademark high pitched vocals already in gear. It’s a fun album in a way.

So dust off your old denim vest with the Iron Maiden patch on the back, tie on a Motorhead headband, but forget about fitting into those paint-on tight jeans. This is 80’s metal on its way up from the underground. Welcome to “Metal City”.

Warthur An intriguing release from Virgin Steele. It took me a little while to get into this - in particular, I found the production track offputting and downright odd, but it's grown on me since, as has the album as a whole. David DeFeis has an unusual vocal approach which works better than I expected, adding a desperate, paranoid air to his megalomaniac proclamations, whilst musically speaking the band tick most of the power metal boxes without even mildly suggesting the cheesiness of so many other groups in the subgenre. I wouldn't say it's an album I'd listen to every day but it's certainly something I'm glad to have acquired and it's truly powerful when I'm in the right mood.

Pelata Virgin Steele is a band that has been around for many years. With now eight albums under their belt, they are apparently loved worldwide by power metal fans. Well, after suffering through the painfully longwinded double CD release The House of Atreus Act II, all I can say is I’m amazed at the fact that they even have a record deal at all! I honestly can’t remember the last time I heard an album so unmercifully boring.

Ok, first the good points: the album is a concept piece, and the story is very detailed. Kudos to singer/keysman/writer David “The Lion” DeFeis for he obviously labored long hours over the story line, which is based on Greek mythology. Some of the musical parts here sound as if they were written for the stage, and are performed as such complete with a choral sound to some of the vocals. However, it’s delivered with all the passion of a middle school drama club. He and fellow band members Edward “Van Dorian” Pursino (all guitars and bass) and Frank “The Krakan’”Gilchriest (drums) are all technically skilled musicians based on the playing I hear. Lots of double kick drum work, speedy guitar and keyboard licks.

However, the flat production sucks any and all life out of their work. It sounds as if everything was recorded at a very low volume. There is no energy or punch to any of it. Also, the tones the band captured are somewhat amateurish, especially in the keyboard department. One key solo sounds like the “horns” preset on a $200 keyboard you’d pick up at Sears.

Vocally, “The Lion” is simply annoying. He sings in key, and knows how to stack his harmonies, but it’s his tone that turns me off. He sounds fine on some of the albums softer moments, but once they try to get heavy he sounds downright bad. His smooth voice is very thin, making him sound weak most of the time. Then his “heavy” voice mainly consists of a gruff, almost spoken delivery.

To make it even worse, he sprinkles overused exclamations, complete with cheesy delay (“YOW! YOw! Yow! yow!,” ya know?), at the end of many lines. And even though he’s playing the album’s many characters himself, he uses only these two vocal styles making it impossible to follow the story without reading the lyric sheet.

I can’t point to any song in particular as being a highlight, because they all basically deliver the same bad vocals and lifeless performances. This being the band’s eighth album, they obviously have some fans somewhere.

So, I would say that fans of Virgin Steele would probably like this, if this is what they’ve always sounded like. But to me, this album is another example of how to waste time, money, plastic, paper, and ink on a record contract.

Avoid it at all costs.