Virgin Steele - Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation review
| Band: | Virgin Steele |
| Album: | Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation |
| Style: | Heavy metal, Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | June 17, 2015 |
| A review by: | Belegûr |
Disc I
01. Lucifer's Hammer
02. Queen Of The Dead
03. To Darkness Eternal
04. Black Sun - Black Mass
05. Persephone
06. Devilhead
07. Demolition Queen
08. The Plague And The Fire
09. We Disappear
10. A Damned Apparition
11. Glamour
12. Delirium
13. Hymns To Damnation
14. Fallen Angels
Disc II [Limited Edition Digipak bonus]
01. Halloween Theme
02. D.O.A.
03. The Witch In The Forest
04. Black Sabbath [Black Sabbath cover]
05. The Immigrant Song [Led Zeppelin cover]
06. Black Sabbath "Reprise"
07. Riderless Horse (Save Your Breath)
08. The Devil Drives
09. Anger Never Dies
10. Funeral Games
11. The Plot Thickens
12. Haunted Wolfshine
13. West Of Sumer
14. A Greater Burning Of Innocence
15. The Birth Of Beauty
Containing 14 tracks and clocking in at almost 80 minutes, Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation certainly has a lot of material to digest. The band has managed to create an album that should offer something to please fans of their earlier work, as well as fans of the more recent darkened sounds.
With the release of Visions Of Eden in 2006, Virgin Steele had changed direction, playing a somewhat gloomy and melancholic style of epic metal. The album was keyboard heavy with guitars taking a back-seat to the vocals and keys of David DeFeis. The Black Light Bacchanalia followed and offered the same style of music, but with guitars being far more prominent. Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation comes 5 years after and changes things again. It is yet another great album to add to their already impressive discography.
Gone are the whispers of David DeFeis, sometimes barely audible on his last outing and right from the beginning you can hear some power and raw emotion with some spontaneous roars and screams thrown in. Tracks like "Lucifer's Hammer" and "Black Sun - Black Mass" would not be out of place on earlier heavier albums. Thankfully the production has been improved, with all instruments being at least audible and I was genuinely happy when I heard the bass guitar; it is no longer completely hidden. In short, this album is definitely the heaviest since The House Of Atreus Act II.
Around halfway through the album there is a rather noticeable change in direction. While the first half offers heavier and faster songs, the second half returns to the band's more recent style; mid-tempo, keyboard heavy and dreary. Fans of Visions Of Eden should really enjoy the second half of the album. This is what I found to be one of the most impressive aspects of Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation, a mix of older and newer styles. The band successfully achieved what they set out to do; create a collection of songs that offer a mix of bluesy moments, moody chord changes, and monolithic riffs with new ideas. Each song stands alone instead of following an overall concept and there are genuine surprises within; "We Disappear" begins with a crunchy guitar riff that has just been missing from recent albums, "Persephone" contains some of the best melodies the band has written and "The Plague And The Fire" would work anywhere in the band's discography.
Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation is not a complete return to the epic metal days of the mid to late 1990's where the band could simply do no wrong, nor is it a simple continuation of the darker sound of the 2000's. More high tempo songs would have been great, but the compositional ability of David DeFeis is still as impressive as ever. Virgin Steele has been successful in creating an album that is a mix of styles, a bold direction and one that impresses further each time I listen to it.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Belegûr | 01.06.2015
Comments
Comments: 15
Visited by: 272 users
| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62283  |
I will judge it after listening
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365  |
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62283 |
Written by Belegûr on 01.06.2015 at 22:46 many dont
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086  |
I remember listening to Lucifer's Hammer and it did some quite impressive, except for maybe the vocal performance.
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| Incalus Posts: 22  |
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Incalus on 02.06.2015 at 00:51 Have you heard it? If so, what would you give it?
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| Incalus Posts: 22 |
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Incalus on 02.06.2015 at 01:31 Well I'm a massive fan of the band, I think a 7 is very fair for this album. I'm not saying they aren't original, 7 itself is a good score, especially for a bands 13th studio album  . I do state that a large part of the album is very similar in style to past albums so it would be a bit strange to give it a 10 for originality. I also try to write a review without releasing my inner fanboy, otherwise I would happily give almost all Virgin Steele albums a 10/10  .
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| UnknownCheese Posts: 205 |
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by UnknownCheese on 03.06.2015 at 11:59 I wish that I had the chance the hear the 2nd disc, but the review copy was only the 1 disc version. I have preordered the same version as you. The faster songs are actually pretty amazing in my opinion, the slower songs are pretty heavy too - especially The Plague and the Fire. Hopefully you like it!
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| Incalus Posts: 22 |
Written by Belegûr on 03.06.2015 at 21:45 What is you favorite song from the album?
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Written by Incalus on 08.06.2015 at 00:29 Most likely Persephone, though Lucifer's Hammer and The Plague and the Fire are great too. Persephone is really good though. I think I listened to that song like 18 times before the review was written .
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62283 |
What a boring album 2-4 good songs, rest is just I don't know, only VS element is David DeFeis vocals, rest is I don't know , opera, symphony , seems ppl care more about band name not music , I didn't like it , seems band wont write anything good, IMO overated band
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Belegûr Arise In Might! Posts: 365 |
Couldn't care less about band name, otherwise I would say Metallica have been good since 1989 . I judge each album on its own merit. Like I say to anyone that doesn't agree, a review is just one persons opinion I don't see how they can be overrated when they have such a small fan base for a band that has been around as long as them. If anything I think they are highly underrated. Its also a bit much to ask to expect to like this album when you clearly haven't liked anything they have made for will over 15 years. What were you expecting? :S If people haven't liked material up to now then they aren't going to start. Marriage was back in the mid 90s. I stated that fans of older vs work will find something to like, which you did as you liked a few songs. So it's unfair to say they won't write anything good straight after saying there were 2-4 good songs. I'll put that down to bad English 
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| Roy_Batty Posts: 4 |
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