VIRGIN STEELE Frontman: New Album Is 'Extremely Heavy, Moody And Melodic'

Metal Asylum recently conducted an interview with VIRGIN STEELE frontman David DeFeis about the band's forthcoming epic, entitled "Visions of Eden". An excerpt from the chat follows:

Metal Asylum: Tell us about the forthcoming album "Visions of Eden". Why that title?

David: "The work is based on the destruction of paganism, and gnosticism and the desecration and eradication of the goddess principle that once dwelled so freely within divinity. A massive blow was struck against these early beliefs, by first, the rise of the 'father-god' principle, and second by the development of the 'organized' religions. The album concerns Lilith, first wife of Adam (he of biblical fame, as in Adam and Eve and the apple, the snake and all that fig leaf and rib propaganda),plus ancient sumerian myths concerning Lilith's relationship with Adam, Eve and God. However, that being said, in actuality, it is really about today…modern times and how we might have arrived here at this very strange place we are now in…The title and the cover reflect the idea of...where are those visions of Eden??? When will we have them? It is a longing for the divine and the eternal in beauty, grace, nobility, etc."

Metal Asylum: What have you done musically with this album that you maybe had not achieved in the past?

David: "It is perhaps even darker than the darkest VIRGIN STEELE moments. It is more nocturnal, autumnal, celestial, vampiric, paganistic, lunar, underground, and, in general, more extreme. The brutality is, if possible, even more brutal (especially mentally speaking),and the tender moments are incredibly melancholy, tortured, forlorn and torn. It is a music full of eternal longing, suffering and regret. Long smoldering passions, lust and despair ignite, consume and die... In the end... a type of hope arises. Not always the 'all conquering triumph ideology,' but a sense of merging with the perennial consciousness of the universe, where one day.... a rebirth of sorts might follow... a beauty born of grief. I am using more piano or acoustic guitar combined with very deeply tuned heavy guitars. Vocally it is very, very melodic, and I can be tender, aggressive, and bluesy. At times the vocal style is like the bluesy singing on the 'Life Among The Ruins' album, only the music and melodies here are very, very different. 'Visions of Eden' is very atmospheric. There are big epic anthemic pieces, with always sing-able and memorable 'hooks,' but there is also a dark, brooding, moody, impressionistic, quality that manifests itself throughout. There is over-the-top orchestration yet simplicity. Nothing is done for the sake of overindulgence, or complexity for complexity's sake. Everything is in proportion, balance and effective for the feelings/sentiments in question. It is a new development, I think. A further progression of my compositional style. These works are epic, bombastic and totally full-on metal, sort of like Conan the Barbarian meets Wagner in a dark, black cave! Perhaps it sounds like...cold moonlight on a haunted cathedral. It screams out like a frightening apparition, a banshee, or it moans tragically like the wailing of the wind through accursed ruins... Images of stark bare trees, clutching at a dark, pregnant, grey/black cloud covered sky while fog stalks the streets are conjured. Several tracks contain a very eerie, haunting quality that would be very much at home in a horror movie such as 'The Omen', 'The Ninth Gate' or 'The Exorcist'! All are extremely heavy, moody and melodic. It is music to accompany either the ending of the world, the birthing of a new world, or both!!!"

Read the entire interview at www.metalasylum.net.