Search - Virgin Steele :: Book of Burning

A Shining Beacon Of Straight Ahead Progressive Metal In 2002

The Iced Priest | Lackland AFB, Texas USA | 01/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"2002 brings another exquisite helping of progressive flavored melodic metal that Dave Defies & crew have become masters at delivering for over 2 decades. Specifically dedicated to the victims of 9-11(the band is originally from NY), the record contains 7 new songs and 9 new rerecordings of mostly Jack Starr co-written classics, and spanning their recent House Of Atreus releases, Noble Savage, and Guardians Of The Flame era tracks(for which many people, at least here in the states, have limited knowledge of). For those of you who were blown away by the shear creative genius of House Of Atreus Act I and II, the content of these songs is not as good. Then again those were 110% theatrical concept albums, which Book Of Burning is not.As characteristic of most VS albums, Dave D. stretches the boundaries of his unique vocal style for which I've heard as many praiseworthy as "I think he slightly over does it" comments. So expect to hear those familiar high pitched screams, falsettos, croons, and ofcourse Dave D.'s trademark power metal growl that brings "the balls" to this record. Ed Pursino & Joshua Block (a new guy)as always keep the riff and lead factory unique and crunching under the rhythmic guidance of Frank "The Baron" Gilchriest's usual solid skinswork!Noteworthy tracks include the high speed "Conjuration Of The Watcher" & "The Succubus", the heavy "HellFire Woman", "The Chosen Ones", & "The Final Days" (you can just imagine the subject matter of this track). Add a little melodic change of pace with the ballads "Cry In The Night","Minuet In G Minor" and get your glam with the High And Dry era Def Leppard like "Hot & Wild". Last but not least the epic combinations of metal and keyboards with "I am The One" and the groovy "Guardians Of The Flame". In general this record gives a pretty consistent presentation of the kind of rock VS is known for, so Book Of Burning does great for a first or intro record to the band. Get it and feel the heat of the metal flame."

For die-hard fans only

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 03/24/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm usually quite skeptical when bands take it upon themselves to rerecord previous work. It usually means that the earlier material wasn't that good in the first place, or there was an acrimonious split with a band member involved in those early albums. Apparently the latter is the case with The Book of Burning, a collection of rerecorded and previously unreleased material from epic metal band Virgin Steele.



The Book of Burning essentially revisits the Jack Starr era of Virgin Steele. Classic material from Starr's time with the band has been rerecorded by the current lineup, and vocalist Dave Defeis - now the driving creative force behind Virgin Steele - has dusted off some previously unreleased material from those days as well. The results are mixed. I don't think the early songs were "broke" enough to need fixing, but at the same time it's always good to see some forgotten tracks - all of which are the kind of energetic epic power metal Virgin Steele is known for - come to light.



The Book of Burning is really only for die-hard Virgin Steele fans. Newcomers would be better off steering clear of this release and opting instead for the band's "best of" collection Hymns to Victory.

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