Sep 8, 2025
Virgin Steele - Rock Me
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Virgin Steele - Rock Me
Monday, March 30: Virgin Steele, “Children of the Storm”
“Children of the Storm” was much dirtier and combative than the bombastic near-opera metal that garnered New York’s Virgin Steele their biggest success, but in its lengthy running time and various time changes, it also hinted at David Defeis’ ambitions at a very early stage. To be sure, this dichotomy wasn’t entirely of Defeis’ making: Jack Starr was an integral co-captain on Virgin Steele’s first three albums, and his shoot-em-up riffing style was fundamental to tracks like this one. On its own terms, “Children of the Storm” was a somewhat low-grade attempt at a metal epic, and Defeis in particular tried to hit every conceivable note. But the song was also fairly heavy by early ‘80s standards, felt resolutely metallic, and mostly landed on the right side of ludicrous. And besides, Defeis and his wailing would eventually sound much more ridiculous.
Virgin Steele: Guardians of the Flame (1983)
In my youth, I wouldn’t touch this album with a ten-foot pole -- or a ten-foot sword, for that matter -- but sheer nostalgia and that glorious fantasy cover art have me writing about it today.
Mind you, I still wouldn’t recommend Virgin Steele to most people, unless they have an unquenchable thirst for metal in all its forms; but I suppose the New York outfit did their small part to pioneer the neoclassical and power metal genres, or what they called “symphonic, romantic and bombastic” music.
Check, check and, uh, check!
All kidding aside, by the release of their sophomore album, Guardians of the Flame, in 1983, the young group already found themselves at a creative crossroads ...
Should they take the high road towards ambitious, castle metal fantasies with limited commercial potential, or embrace the vacuous brand of hair metal more likely to land them on the radio airwaves?
Guitarist Jack Starr certainly seemed partial to the latter, if brainless cuts like “Life of Crime,” “Metal City,” “Hell or High Water” and “Go All the Way” were any indication.
But then, his partner in crime, vocalist and keyboardist David DeFeis also seemed tempted by the pop metal demons, based on the anthemic “Don’t Say Goodbye (Tonight)” and big-ass ballad “A Cry in the Night.”
For what it’s worth, the two men actually saw eye to eye whilst collaborating on the album’s grandiose title track and the even more epic “The Redeemer,” while Starr managed to -- ahem! -- redeem himself on the unrepentantly metallic “Burn the Sun.”
So it’s not like there was an obvious and undeniable schism raging within Virgin Steele’s ranks (which, incidentally, were filled out by bassist Joe O’Reilly and drummer Joey Ayvazian), but something clearly had to give ...
And, sure enough, band founder Starr was summarily ousted the following year (replaced by Edward Pursino), launching a lengthy legal battle over the band’s name that eventually freed DeFeis to commit himself unconditionally to his so-called “symphonic, romantic and bombastic” heavy metal.
More Virgin Steele: Virgin Steele.
Exorcist - Lucifer's Lament
Virgin Steele - Burn the Sun
Tuesday, June 20: Virgin Steele, “Burn the Sun”
David Defeis has somehow kept Virgin Steele going for over 35 years, building a following in Europe despite zero American interest. There’s something to be said for the man’s perseverance, to say nothing of his prolific discography (titling an album released in 2015 Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation was either ballsy or completely ludicrous, but it’s definitely something). “Burn the Sun” came off Guardians of the Flame and marked the pinnacle of Virgin Steele’s original core partnership of Defeis and guitarist Jack Starr. This early iteration of the band was a no-frills shoot ‘em up American power metal act, and “Burn the Sun” was early ‘80s indie metal at its most unpretentious, banging for its own sake. The song was absolute ‘80s cheese metal, but its enthusiasm was infectious, and Defeis’ vocals hadn’t yet veered too far into melodrama. Starr actually made something of a career on the back of his work with Virgin Steele, and “Burn the Sun” cemented both his and Defeis’ reps as power metal stalwarts.
VIRGIN STEELE ANNIVERSARY RE-RELEASES OF THE FIRST TWO ALBUMS
Hot on the heels of last summer’s brand new Bombastic Epic release “The Passion of Dionysus”, this summer the first two VIRGIN STEELE albums will be re-issued on August 23, 2024 David DeFeis has included an additional moniker to these re-releases… he calls it…”The Anniversary Edition”, for he has completely re-mixed the albums start to finish from the original multi-tracks. The booklet includes…
Virgin Steele - The Passion of Dionysus
David DeFeis has returned for Virgin Steele‘s fourteenth or seventeenth studio album, depending on whom you ask. Has he rediscovered the magick of the nineties, or will this turn into a Greek drama? Let’s find out. Continue reading Untitled
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