Virgin Steele – The Passion Of Dionysus (Steamhammer/SPV)
Monday, 26th June 2023
David DeFeis is the heart and soul of Virgin Steele. Over forty years of blood, sweat, and tears into this epic power metal outfit – praised for 80’s efforts like II: Guardians of the Flame and Noble Savage, plus strong 90’s outings like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Parts I and II as well as personal favorite Invictus. Listeners of The Passion of Dionysus can expect longer compositions full of classical-inspired themes, orchestration, plus mythology/romantic styled content delivered in a dramatic theater of the mind format, maxing out the CD format at ten songs in just under eighty minutes.
There’s no denying his multifaceted talent at layered compositions, fluid instrumental abilities, and classically-trained vocal presence that tackles octaves mortal men wish to hit after years of training – never mind a man like David who is in his early 60’s. His piano skills are mesmerizing for “You’ll Never See the Sun Again”, while he reaches back for some mid-range gusto inflection during the see saw mood shifter “To Bind & Kill a God”. Guitarists Edward Pursino and Josh Block provide the steady rhythms, runs, and counterpoint action to keep things in the metal realm – “The Gethsemane Effect” delving into some early Deep Purple textures, while the circus-like cinematic nature of the title track bathes in some harmonic symbiosis with the baroque piano and lower melodies David chooses in specific verses to heighten the dynamic contrasts.
The struggle for full appreciation lays squarely on the reliance of specific technological tools that have gone a bit overboard to possibly create a ‘too much’ quality to many of these songs. Instead of going for a two- or three-part harmony, David chooses to create this vocal kaleidoscope of choirs that overwhelm the proceedings – and not in an ideal Blind Guardian or Orden Ogan manner. Which is a shame, as it diminishes the epic shifts for the almost thirteen-minute progressive effort “The Ritual of Descent”, where David hits some interesting Robert Plant-esque wails. And while computer programmed drums have come a long way from the Angelo Sasso/Running Wild days, there are times where you get the sense that a human element would have this material sounding slightly more organic.
Where does The Passion of Dionysus then sit in the large discography of Virgin Steele? It’s adequate heavy/power metal that conjures a period hundreds of years long gone, but probably not going to set the world ablaze in terms of consistent playlist rotation.
