SPV
2010
1. By The Hammer Of Zeus (And The Wrecking Ball Of Thor)
2. Pagan Heart
3. The Bread Of Wickedness
4. In A Dream Of Fire
5. The Orpheus Taboo
6. Nepenthe
7. Necropolis (He Answers Them With Death)
8. To Crown Them With Halos Parts 1 & 2
9. The Torture's Of The Damned
10. The Black Light Bacchanalia (The Age That Is To Come)
11. Eternal Regret
Ok anyone who knows me and reads these things I do knows that I absolutely loved the last Virgin Steele. On Visions Of Eden I felt they established such an amazing sound that blended metal and classical elements flawlessly into the ultimate epic ride. To me the last album was simply potential realized as Defeis soared in amazing fashion to music perfectly suited to his vocal abilities. Needless to say I was dying for new Virgin Steele and really hoping for something as amazing. It's worth pointing out that since I've been reviewing new albums, Visions Of Eden is the only album to get a perfect 5/5 from me.
So does this album hit it home with another masterpiece? Sadly, it just doesn't at all. I guess one can't expect a masterpiece everytime but I don't think I expected the songwriting to regress this far off course either.
On this one the album just seems to try too hard to be heavy at times while still staying in the same sound. It just doesn't work at all, simply put. The heaviness on songs like By The Hammer Of Zeus seems wholly out of place and disjointed with the chorus breaking in in jarring fashion and similar problems plague Pagan Heart and much of the album. At other times on tracks like To Crown Them With Halos Parts 1 & 2 and The Bread Of Wickedness there are such blatant rips from the last album that the songs come off as completely uninspired rehashes. Really, this album just never comes together to have the flow and passion of Visions Of Eden and the album suffers greatly.
I just can't wrap my brain around this release and none of the songs seem to have that majestic epic flow throughout that drove Visions Of Eden home. I think there are almost good ideas here, but they never come together. Really, this is a truly forgettable album with only one song that succeeds from start to finish with great melodies (In A Dream Of Fire) and another that has moments (Necropolis). I don't hate this, but all these songs more or less seem like the filler between good songs.
After listening to this, I totally feel like the filler that Wasn't on Visions Of Eden is this album. Maybe Defeis/the band should have taken a little longer before they followed up on Visions Of Eden because this is just disappointing. I don't totally HATE this, but it never really breaks out as great either. I'd only really recommend this for diehard Virgin Steele fans because this is not a great place to start.
Highlights: In A Dream Of Fire, Necropolis
Rating - 3.0/5
2. Pagan Heart
3. The Bread Of Wickedness
4. In A Dream Of Fire
5. The Orpheus Taboo
6. Nepenthe
7. Necropolis (He Answers Them With Death)
8. To Crown Them With Halos Parts 1 & 2
9. The Torture's Of The Damned
10. The Black Light Bacchanalia (The Age That Is To Come)
11. Eternal Regret
Ok anyone who knows me and reads these things I do knows that I absolutely loved the last Virgin Steele. On Visions Of Eden I felt they established such an amazing sound that blended metal and classical elements flawlessly into the ultimate epic ride. To me the last album was simply potential realized as Defeis soared in amazing fashion to music perfectly suited to his vocal abilities. Needless to say I was dying for new Virgin Steele and really hoping for something as amazing. It's worth pointing out that since I've been reviewing new albums, Visions Of Eden is the only album to get a perfect 5/5 from me.
So does this album hit it home with another masterpiece? Sadly, it just doesn't at all. I guess one can't expect a masterpiece everytime but I don't think I expected the songwriting to regress this far off course either.
On this one the album just seems to try too hard to be heavy at times while still staying in the same sound. It just doesn't work at all, simply put. The heaviness on songs like By The Hammer Of Zeus seems wholly out of place and disjointed with the chorus breaking in in jarring fashion and similar problems plague Pagan Heart and much of the album. At other times on tracks like To Crown Them With Halos Parts 1 & 2 and The Bread Of Wickedness there are such blatant rips from the last album that the songs come off as completely uninspired rehashes. Really, this album just never comes together to have the flow and passion of Visions Of Eden and the album suffers greatly.
I just can't wrap my brain around this release and none of the songs seem to have that majestic epic flow throughout that drove Visions Of Eden home. I think there are almost good ideas here, but they never come together. Really, this is a truly forgettable album with only one song that succeeds from start to finish with great melodies (In A Dream Of Fire) and another that has moments (Necropolis). I don't hate this, but all these songs more or less seem like the filler between good songs.
After listening to this, I totally feel like the filler that Wasn't on Visions Of Eden is this album. Maybe Defeis/the band should have taken a little longer before they followed up on Visions Of Eden because this is just disappointing. I don't totally HATE this, but it never really breaks out as great either. I'd only really recommend this for diehard Virgin Steele fans because this is not a great place to start.
Highlights: In A Dream Of Fire, Necropolis
Rating - 3.0/5
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