Invictus --- Virgin Steele --- 1998 (T&T/Noise)
Without even playing a note I can see that the grip of David DeFeis has tightened even more on this album than the last, with him taking writing duties for all the tracks except one, and I also note that this is the longest in the trilogy in terms of tracks, having sixteen in all, though quite a few of them are short, a minute or two at best. There is though also the longest track in the entire trilogy closing the album, coming in at almost eleven minutes. The album also seems to move even further away from Christianity and even from the classical myths, back towards a time perhaps even before gods, or those called the Elder Gods, whose names, deeds and even existence is almost lost in the mists of time.
The opening track is just short of two minutes, and consists of DeFeis narrating some sort of poetry or prose against the sound of hoofbeats, battle, wind and thunder, his voice distorted by being double-tracked with the second track delayed, like they do for all those dodgy science-fiction movie villians. The horse gallops away and guitar and drums gallop in as the title track gets us underway with a blistering display of fretwork from Ed Pursino, almost breathtaking, with some very effective stop/start guitar that takes you by surprise and DeFeis's keyboards adding their own layer to the song. It seems to contain a conversation or exchange between two entities, one called Endyamon and the other simply known as "The Godhead". Now DeFeis is on record as saying he made up the name Endyamon, but I suspect he took some sort of reference from the Greek god Endymion, although this song does not seem to be rooted, as I say, in Greek myth. In the title track, The Godhead seems to be trying to kill Endyamon or get him to kill himself, while the latter refuses to succumb and die. There are some oddly Christian-related lines ---
"Die like your son/ Nailed to a tree" --- and indeed the entire mythology is confused and intermingled throughout this album. That aside, it's a good opener (if you don't count "Blood of vengeance", which has no real music in it at all and should be seen more as a kind of spoken prelude perhaps) and with a sound like the hounds of Hell we pile into "Mind, body, spirit", but anyone who thinks Virgin Steele are advocating their own new yoga routine should not be reading this!
More intermixing as Endyamon, now speaking to humanity in what appears to be the Day of Judgement, speaks of the "Bridge of Hades" (there is/was no bridge into Hades: you approached over the River Styx and went down a long dark tunnel, surely signifying the descent into the dark earth as one was buried) and talks of the
"Shadow of the Horseman who is sworn to rise" --- Death, the Pale Rider, surely? -- and
"Seven are now waiting in the skies/ Warring Angels..." So we have a vision of the Last Day, with elements from Greek myth thrown in and I would hazard DeFeis means Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge into Asgard when he talks about the "Bridge of Hades", so some Norse legend there too. Oh yeah: the song! It's another hard and heavy hitter, a shade slower than "Invictus", but with the same churning, spitting guitars and thumping drums, and David at the height of his "warrior persona" as Endyamon, either the destroyer or --- which seems more likely --- the champion of Man.
More than halfway through it rather surprisingly cuts right back and on the soft synth of DeFeis and the acoustic guitar work of Pursino it becomes a ballad within a rocker, great drama and power, changes the song completely and comes close to making it already one of the standouts. The orchestral keys really make the song, and there's a certain sense of loneliness and despair about it, while almost chanting synth leads in the instrumental "In the arms of the death god", with powerful guitar from Pursino; in fact, keys only form the intro and outro of the piece, and it's definitely guitar-centric. It all kicks off then for "Through blood and fire", with steamhammer drumming from new boy Frank Gilchrist --- well, he took half the tracks on the last album, but this is the first on which he is the sole drummer. The story begins to become a little clearer now (good idea to read the lyrics, Trollheart!)
and it looks like Endyamon is trying to either destroy the gods, turn from them and/or bring humanity out of what he sees as their bondage, their service to and worship of deities they perceive in the sky. The gods would seem to be encompassed by The Godhead, who is not going down easily!
"I am the Master of this world of ours /You are a thorn in my side/ I am the Rock upon which you will break/ Freedom or Death, you decide!" while Endyamon and humanity agree
"Through blood and fire/ Promises and lies/ Through blood and fire we rise/ No more tomorrow on your side/ Through blood and fire we rise!" You can laugh, but there's a guitar passage here that just reminds me so much of Genesis! There, I said it! On we go then with "Sword of the gods".
Virgin Steele and Manowar came up around the same time, early eighties, and you can definitely see the similarities between the two. Mythology, battles and courage play a large part in the songs of each, and while Manowar tend to go more for the guitar attack with not too much emphasis, if any, on keys, particularly on their earlier albums, Virgin Steele tend to use everything in their arsenal to create the soundscape they want to lay down. Keyboards however don't soften their metal edge as they could, rather they sharpen it and afford the band an extra punch, a way of really making their music dramatic and in some cases almost classical in tone and feel. Like in the next one, a short ballad entitled "God of our sorrows", which only lasts just over a minute, and features some of DeFeis's best piano playing and most soulful singing too, and leads into another short offering, "Vow of honour", where he hits a total falsetto (unless they used the services of an uncredited female singer!) and is backed by booming, doomy keys, breaking into "Defiance", where Pursino, who has been standing there tapping his fingers waiting for DeFeis to finish, kicks in with a big guitar performance as everything rocks off again after the short interlude.
Okay, up to now I've been, more or less, able to follow or at least guess at the story here, that Endyamon, the champion of humanity, perhaps a disgraced or exiled god, is fighting to save Man from the elder gods, but over the last few songs it's got a little confused and I've kind of lost the thread. By the time we get to "Defiance" I really don't know what's going on, but I still think that Endyamon is either leading humanity into the fight against the gods, facing the gods himself on their behalf, or at least challenging them. The Godhead pops up again, but it is a little difficult to trace the plotline once it gets this far. Still, the elements are all there and there's no doubting the power and majesty of the music. However...
I have to say "Defiance" doesn't do it for me, the first track on really any of the three albums that I've felt falls short of the type of quality Virgin Steele put out across the trilogy; I just don't think it's that great, which is a pity as up to now everything had been going really well. "Dust from the burning" is better, with a big grindy guitar and thunderous drumming, DeFeis growling his voice almost raw, then Pursino gets his chance to show he can be just as gentle on the guitar as DeFeis can be on the keys, though "Amaranth" doesn't even last the full minute before we're into "A whisper of death". Starting off something in a balladic vein it soon bursts into life and thunders along as, let's be honest, you'd expect a song titled like this to. It's also the second-longest track on the album, just shy of nine minutes and with some great interplay between guitar and piano showcased in it.
There's definitely a sense of triumph and vindication in "Dominion day" as the album draws near its close, and it's another hard rocker that races along like a warhorse charging into battle, smoke and blood all around, arrows falling like black rain and bouncing off David DeFeis's shield as he gallops headlong into the fray, a broadsword that most people (apart from Joey DeMaio and most of Manowar, and probably the Batlord) would need two hands to even hold easily swinging in his right hand while his left fends off the shower arrows via the shield strapped to his left arm, and he guides his charger expertly with nothing more than words and a few careful flexes of his leg muscles. This is the sort of music power metal was made for, and you can only really glory in it. Then we get one more rendition of the "Theme to The marriage of Heaven and Hell" before the album closes in style with "Veni, vidi, vici".
The longest track on the album, and the longest in the trilogy, it starts off with a choral and acoustic guitar opening that quickly breaks into Maiden metal territory, picking up speed and intensity as it goes. For those of you who don't know (shame on you: weren't you listening in history class? Oh, you were, but to metal! Fair enough...) the title is a latin motto which means "I came, I saw, I conquered", and is attributed to Julius Caesar, one of the greatest generals of the Roman Empire, and indeed of all time. Actually, it's the chorus, so not too hard to work it out really. The song is a powerful, driving, anthemic vindication of all Virgin Steele stand for and espouse through their music. It also seems to be the victory song of Endyamon as humanity march to their glorious fate, having vanquished the god, and their champion, it would appear, returns to his resting place far under the earth. Blistering work from Ed Pursino, a Grammy-worthy vocal delivery from Dave, and some storming piano and synth passages just add the icing to this already really delicious cake, and bring the curtain down on a tremendous album and an excellent trilogy which started well and just kept improving with each album. Classic metal, no question. Virgin Steele certainly came, saw and conquered without a doubt. They don't make 'em like this any more!
TRACKLISTING
1. The blood of vengeance
2. Invictus
3. Mind, body, spirit
4. In the arms of the death god
5. Through blood and fire
6. Sword of the gods
7. God of our sorrows
8. Vow of honour
9. Defiance
10. Dust from the burning
11. Amaranth
12. A whisper of death
13. Dominion day
14. Shadow of fear
15. Theme from "The marriage of Heaven and Hell"
16. Veni, vidi, vici
Apart from the last album I don't see an actual storyline running through this trilogy, and while without question "Invictus" deserves the title of concept album, I can't really see that in the other two. That being said, there are certainly common themes, ideas, subjects and even characters running through the three albums. The basic human traits of loneliness, fear, desolation, anger, revenge, regret, betrayal and so on are all present in one form or another, and man's weakness which is eventually turned into his strength is another motif common to the three albums. Even on a supposed "modern" song like "Blood and gasoline" on the first album, there are tinges of regret and images of chances lost as the character laments his lost youth and tries to hold on to his fading vigour by racing on the highway, surely a metaphor for one's life running away before them?
The story, as I say, in "Invictus" is a little confused and unclear, but as the title would lead you to expect, it's essentially the story of an epic battle, in fact it would seem the struggle of humans to cast off the chains the gods have put upon them (or that they have taken upon themselves by believing in, and who knows, perhaps creating those gods), and to find their own destiny. If nothing else, the trilogy --- and particularly the last album --- should stand as a parable explaining that we need to find our own way in life, not to rely on other, less tangible forces in the universe, and that in the end, Endyamon, Godhead or other being, real or imagined or created or dreamed, we are the only ones who can free ourselves from the chains that hold us.
"To thine own self be true": a lesson to learn, and words to live by.
As for Virgin Steele? This has to rank as their most complete and most accomplished work, with heart, blood and soul put into it by mostly David DeFeis but also Ed Pursino, and a creation that has to rank at the very top of the symphonic metal ladder. A work to aspire to, a work to lose yourself in, a timeless, ageless story of man's desire to be free and to seek his own destiny. Spread over three albums it's a masterpiece of metal, a neo-classical triumph, and surely the jewel in the already well-studded crown of this influential and seminal metal band.
Oh yeah, and it fookin' rawks, too!