Metal Reviews

I was in a hurry the other day when going quickly through the metal selection at a local store, and I saw Hymns To Victory there for 6€. I remembered somebody here saying the band is absolutely amazing, and should not be missed by anyone. So I bought it without even checking it out in any way.

At home I got kinda disappointed noticing it was sort of a "best of" CD with re-mastered songs from different albums, but I still gave it a shot.

And man, was I in for a surprise! Crown of Glory, Flames of Thy Power, the chorus in Invictus ( O_O ), I Will Come For You, and Noble Savage. I almost feel bad for not having checked this out before.

Now I have this urge to buy everything that has Virgin Steele written on it, and the weird thing is that the music didn't actually blow my mind, I just can't stop thinking about it =D.

Anyway, which CDs should I start out with? It seems that Invictus is a must-buy, but what then if I'm trying to buy the best ones first to save money so to say. If it helps, I prefer the epic feeling over the heavy/straightforward feeling, so for example Through the Ring of Fire is probably my least favorite song from Hymns To Victory. Still, I don't like it to be too pompous. Let's just say that the verses in Flames of Thy Power and Burning of Rome, and the outro type verse in I Will Come For You with Defeis wailing out "I Will Return" in the end are out of this world and alone made justice to the purchase.

Oops, seems like I've rambled too much, but it's the first time music has had this kind of an impact on me. It's not like I get chills from the music like I normally do, but instead a fuzzy feeling overall.

Okay, I'll shut up now now.

Dude, you have found one of the best metal bands around. Check out Invictus, and both the mairrage albums.

Some of my personal favorite songs;

Veni, Vidi, Veci
Through Blood and Fire
Kingdom of the Fearless (The Destruction of Troy)
The Burning of Rome (Cry for Pompeii)
I Will Come for You
Blood and Gasoline
A Symphony of Steele

I could go on and on. This is also my favorite band to work out to.

Metalness' reccomendations are spot on, but to add to them, get the House of Atreus duology, my favourite Virgin Steele. But really, they're a fantastic band- get everything except their earliest and their latest.

Thanks for the suggestions, I went today and bought Marriage Part 1 and Guardians of the Flame (only ones they had at the store). What can I say, Part 1 is incredible, melodic and heavy with a feeling of something big and looming. You got to love David's voice.

Guardians of the Flame on the other hand let me down a bit. The music is way too straightforward heavy metal, missing almost everything that has made such a huge impact on me. I also miss David's current type of vocal delivery, this sounds weird after getting used to the angel/demon vocals he does. But hey, I expected this, the album is over 20 years old anyway.

Am I safe to buy Noble Savage if I'm looking for the epic Virgin Steele, or is it still too close to the style in Guardians of the Flame? The song Noble Savage is really good, so is the album in the same vein, or did I happen to stumble upon the best song on the album?

Have House of Atreus II buried somewhere, should dig it out, quite enjoyed it.

Invictus or the house of atreus doulogy are some of their best for sure, also see if you can find Age Of Consent its not thier most consistent album but it includes some of my favourite VS songs ever, like The Burning Of Rome and Perfect mansions.

Not really. You're better adviced to get part II of the Marriage (imo it's even better than part I), both House Of Atreus albums and Invictus. You can even try their last album, Visions Of Eden, it's still epic and has some killer songs, the problem is the guitars are way back in the mix and because of that it sounds too mellow and it lacks their usual power. Even Defeiss seems to lack power on this album, I don't know what the hell went wrong on this one, because there is some really good material beneath the weird production.

After you buy these albums, feel free to explore their pre-Marriage era (it's got its charm), but don't expect the same style (and quality) of their recent albums.