UMUR "Virgin Steele" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by US heavy/power metal act Virgin Steele. The album was released through V.S.Records (the band´s own label) in December 1982. Virgin Steele was formed in 1981 by guitarist Jack Starr and most of the year was spend auditioning members for the lineup and writing material. By the end of 1981 the band´s first lineup was complete with Jack Starr on guitars, David Defeis on vocals and keyboards/piano, Joe O'Reilly on bass, and Joey Ayvazian on drums. The band debuted in 1982 with the track "Children of the Storm" on the "U.S. Metal Vol. II" various artists compilation album.

"Children of the Storm" also appears on the tracklist here, while the remaining tracks on the album all appeared on the band´s 1982 demo tape in early demo versions. Stylistically Virgin Steele play a hard rocking heavy metal style, which sometimes becomes a little harder edged. Opening track "Minuet In G Minor/Danger Zone" is for example one of the most aggressive and hard edged tracks on the album as is "Children of the Storm" (early Savatage is a valid reference), while many of the other tracks are closer in style to late 70s hard rocking Van Halen. "Still In Love With You" is a ballad type track and honestly the band (at least at this point) didn´t have the songwriting skills to pull that off. The closing title track features the most prominent use of keyboards, which provides that track with a slightly epic atmosphere.

The musicianship is on a high level on all posts. The rhythm section is tight, organic, and hard rocking, Starr is a skilled guitarist delivering a constant attack of heavy/hard rock riffs, licks, and solos (and occasionally showcasing a neo-classical influence), while Defeis quickly establishes that he is a both skilled and versatile vocalist. He can hit some ridiculously high notes and does it frequently, but he can also deliver more hard rocking mid-range vocals. Usually with a swagger that Bon Scott would have been proud of. Of course Defeis is more of a heavy/power metal style vocalist, but there´s attitude here that not all vocalist in that genre can deliver.

The album is not the most well produced release, but taking into consideration that this is a self-produced and self-released affair it´s actually decently produced. It´s a bit thin (trembly) sounding, but that wasn´t unusual for albums in this style from the early- to mid 80s. Upon conclusion "Virgin Steele" is an entertaining debut album by Virgin Steele. It´s a bit too much all over the place to be a successful coherent release, but there is certainly promise enough here to warrant a 3 star (60%) rating.

SilentScream213 By this point, Virgin Steele had acquired a fantastic sound all their own, mixing operatic traditional Heavy Metal with more aggressive USPM and true Power Metal. This was another in a string of concept albums, this time focusing on the Oresteia. I will say, of all the epic Greek myth to focus on, they really chose… one of the least epic. The preceding Illiad would have been much more interesting and action packed, fitting the music style better. The Oresteia is essentially a soap opera.

The good songs here sit among the band’s best. Opener “Kingdom of the Fearless” is a great way to kick off the story, a lengthy epic filled with power and glory. “Child of Desolation” is my personal favorite, showcasing the band’s knack for cheesy, beautiful ballads driven by melody and emotion. The Fire God borders on Thrash Metal, as one of the most aggressive songs they’ve done. But, not all the songs are this good.

The big issue here is how obscenely bloated it is. I mean… the amount of filler/interlude tracks outnumber the regular ones! And many of them approach or even exceed the 2 minute mark as well. It cannot be ignored. Granted, some of these are rather decent, but it’s waaay too much. Virgin Steele kept their previous concept albums a bit more under control, with Invictus definitely dancing on the line with its interludes, but this one is ridiculous.

It's got amazing tracks like their other concept albums, but this one suffers a lot in terms of front to back listenability. Also, the concept is not very fitting for a Power Metal album. They picked one of the few stories in Greek myth with zero action, zero fantasy, zero adventure… I feel this is overrated, great moments though it has.

SilentScream213 Virgin Steele’s last album (Pt. 1) was a huge triumph and where they finally found their signature sound. It was also miles ahead of anything they’d done prior. Pt. 2 is amazingly on par with Pt. 1 and jam packed with some of the best USPM that has ever graced the globe. Virgin Steele have a generous amount of true/euro Power Metal and Symphonic Metal in their sound, and the album is laden with synthed strings, horns, and general fanfare.

Really, this thing just doesn’t miss. 13 tracks and almost all of them rip, even the interlude/outro tracks are still good. The drumming here is definitely better than anything prior, showcased well on Crown of Glory, and everything else is the same peak quality as the prior album. Each track does a great job distinguishing itself, be it by a razor sharp riff, some epic key melodies, or memorable vocals (or all of the above on a few!). The album is just amazing fun.

I’ve got no complaints on this one. I don’t know how USPM could get any better than this in terms of a full hour long album. Also, Strawgirl is beautiful, the haters can get clapped.

voila_la_scorie Way back in the eighties, there was an advert somewhere near the back of Circus magazine (or was it Hit Parader) for an album by a band called Virgin Steele. It was their second album, and the text quoted a review of their first album which expressed that it was "the album Judas Priest should have made." The original American releases of both albums were not available in Canada; however, two albums with different cover art and different track listings were to be found, and I snapped them both up fairly soon. Aside from the rough production, specifically for the debut, I though the music offered a lot of metal thrills, and there was no mistaking the outstanding high shrilling shrieks of singer David DeFeis.

The third album was "Noble Savage" and I'm afraid it was less to my liking. I dropped interest in any further releases, and though I stopped to check out the band's CDs several years later, the cover art convinced me that Virgin Steele had become darker and more sinister. I forgot about them.

Perhaps because I bought the second album, "Guardians of the Flame" on CD around 2010, "The Black Light Bacchanalia" showed up in recommended albums on my Amazon page. Curious, I ordered it and was rather surprised. Here was David DeFeis still puncturing eardrums with those shrieks that were high enough to challenge any first grade elementary school girl on the playground. The music was still metal, but there had been an obvious evolution in the Virgin Steele sound. I decided that i liked it, but didn't love it. Good enough for the one album; no hurry to get any others.

And now it's 2019. For the last two months, I've had my ears buried in eighties thrash metal, old school death metal, and the second wave of black metal. I've begun dabbling in power metal and slowly, little by little, adding to my doom and stoner metal collection. And for some reason, I suddenly felt like listening to "The Black Light Bacchanalia" again.

Thoughts! Impressions!

On this album, Virgin Steele are power metal by lyrical topics and presentation, not to mention the essential inclusion of keyboard piano or keyboard orchestra. But the music is not like the group sing-a-longs of some bands or the speedy and precise agility of others. In fact, I can't help but feel this album is more like a theatrical performance, with DeFeis playing the lead role of the protagonist and the lyrics serving as his monologue when speaking to himself or his enemies. To read here on MMA that Virgin Steele play "romantic-barbaric" metal really hits the minion on the head. The music is bold and at times forceful but it more often has a graceful caress to it than straight out brutality and force. It is the Noble Savage, swinging his sword sunward and striking a symbolic pose with pectoral muscles bronzed in the sun.

Though there are some cool riffs as well as some tremolo picked chords backed by double kick drum, there are plenty of chords struck and left to support the vocals. The drums can be a flurry of sticks at times but often they hold a modest place keeping a steady beat. My feeling at one point was like the music is a bit like driving a standard transmission sports car down a city street: sometimes you can speed up and swoop around in traffic but more often you're changing gears, slowing down and speeding up just a little as you deal with traffic and intersection lights. Again, the reason seems to be that the music is a theatrical performance with the lyrics and vocals taking the lead role.

DeFeis tends to sing in a calm, smooth voice throughout most of the songs. It's almost like the lines are meant to be whispered with conviction but need to be sung. He throws in some snarls and growls but more like a wild cat and not like thrash metal sneers and barks or death metal roars and bellows. He can also sing in a higher register and again does so softly as if to serenade the sorceress. Then there will be another one of those sky high notes.

The songs have a pretty decent length and at times almost seen more like progressive metal or symphonic metal. The keyboard piano (which I distinguish from real piano) does more than offer safe, pretty notes and in a track or two it takes over for the rhythm guitar as the primary instrument of melody. Some dramatic symphonic blasts give a grandness to certain passages.

I'm not familiar with Virgin Steele's releases between Noble Savage and 2010 so I can't compare my impressions here with other albums. But I feel thrilled enough by my return visit to have ordered another Virgin Steele album. This music is not for everyone. It doesn't have the rush and charge of thrash metal, the pulverizing assault of death metal, or the cold grimness of black metal. There might be too many abrupt changes in the music without a steady supply of full-on metal power for some folks. It does not have enough of that power metal conqueror swing to it. But if you've come to hear some of Virgin Steele's story telling and drama, then this album offers some rewards.

adg211288 Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation (2015) is the thirteenth full-length studio album by US heavy/power metal act Virgin Steele. This is the group's first album in five years, following on from The Black Light Bacchanalia (2010).

I've enjoyed the work of Virgin Steele quite a bit in the past, so it's to my complete surprise that Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation just isn't doing it for me. This is a pretty long album (about seventy-nine minutes), as is usual for Virgin Steele, but for the first time since I started listening to them I don't think they pull it off. Their sound has largely drifted away from power metal and back into traditional metal territory which gives the impression that they're plodding along with little to no energy. The first track Luzifers Hammer is more in line with what you'd expect from Virgin Steele and shows promise but it all starts going downhill from there, ending up with something that is too drawn out for its own good, bland in terms of songwriting and lacking in power, so is ultimately downright boring.

I could only get through the album by taking it in chunks due to the long duration. Had this been by a band I was trying for this first time I think, no actually I know I would have given up long before the last song ended but since I have enjoyed albums like The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell, Part Two (1995), The House Of Atreus: Act II (2001) and Visions of Eden (2006) I did my best to stick with Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation, hoping to find some sort of positive thing to say about the album. Unfortunately it's the sort of record that upon conclusion that leaves me with absolutely no desire to give it a repeat spin. A bit of trimming may have helped a bit so the record didn't drag on so long but not by much, not without a few more moments that manage to shine out. Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation is my first major disappointment of 2015. 1.5 stars.