04/27/2015 20:20

Virgin Steele

Virgin Steele to release new album 'Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation' in June

Long-running American metallers Virgin Steele have changed the title of their new album from 'Hymns to Damnation' to 'Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation'. The CD will be released on June 17 in Scandinavia, June 19 in Germany, June 22 in the rest of Europe and June 23 in the USA via SPV/Steamhammer. It will be made available in physical format with three different covers — as a standard 1CD version (the gargoyle cover), 2CD digipak version (the angel cover), 2LP gatefold version (the flute playing skeleton cover) — and as a digital download.

Comments Virgin Steele singer David DeFeis: "Our new album, which is called 'Nocturnes of Hellfire & Damnation', is not a concept album per se, but there is a through line that connects the tracks. The lyrics essentially deal with relationship issues, and by that I mean the connections between entities, as in all sorts of beings, not only human being, but also gods and goddesses, spirits, elements, or whatever, plus various creatures, animal, vegetable and or mineral, but largely the album is about connections between people. People and their belief systems, people and their gods or goddesses, people and their life philosophies and also the various substances we invest or inject into our daily or nightly rituals and our worldview, and all the complexities of what drives us, makes us who we are and takes us where we may or may not be going.

"To sum it up, this album is about all the various ways in which humans can entangle themselves, or destroy themselves, so the album's title essentially encompasses what the vibe of the whole work is about.

"The title relates to the album in the way that the title 'Noble Savage' or 'Age of Consent' expressed each of those particular works. The title provides a framework and connective tissue, but each song is really its own thing.

"Musically, the album is pretty heavy, high energy, often dark, at turns melancholy, and at turns aggressive or angry sounding. It does have that over-the-top bombastic heaviness that we are about, and the whole barbaric-romantic thing that we are known for.

"The overarching theme that comes to mind when I think about the album or listen to it is passion… raw passion. There are big monolithic riffs, moody chord changes, "classical" type bits, sort of bluesy moments.... It retains the Virgin Steele signature, but it adds new dimensions to it. In a strange way, it 'feels' to me like it could have been the album we might have made to follow up 'Noble Savage' had I been able to devote all my energies into the more bombastic or progressive side of my musical nature at that time, rather than trying to appease some of the other "factions" around me who wanted some kind of a "hit"...whatever that meant at the time.

"So, to conclude, we have infused the recordings with all that we have gone through over these past months, every fiber of our being, and I think this album will be something our fans will really enjoy."

(source: Blabbermouth.net)

(Older news about the topic:)

SPV / Steamhammer is proud to announce a new Virgin Steele studio album for February / March 2015 . This will be the first full length album with brandnew songs since 'The Black Light Bacchanalia' which was released in 2010.

David DeFeis describes the new album: "...it is a very heavy non-concept type album in the vein of something like a 'Noble Savage' or an 'Age of Consent', where there is no particular "story" that one has to follow. It is instead a straightforward collection of songs that work well together. It is about 80-90% tracked already, and final mixing will begin next month!" He further stated that: "I know that we announced a box-set was to be issued this autumn, which in addition to two more re-issues, would also have included a new bonus album called 'Ghost Harvest', (which by the way is finished and ready to go)... but... the group and I and our label all feel that the time is right now first for some brandnew US metal in the style that Virgin Steele deliver, therefore the new album is now our focus but... fear not... the previously discussed box set will be released later next year, most likely a short time after we issue the brand new release that we are currently completing. And for those who were asking... yes... the new album does have a title and I will reveal it in the weeks ahead... With these new recordings we have gone back to some earlier methods of recording such as using analog tape, and the whole thing sounds and feels very organic. To conclude... the group and I are really happy with the new material and we are sure that all the fans who waited so long will be more than pleased.!"

Watch out for more infos revealed soon.

(source: SPV/Steamhammer)