Review Summary: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is an emotional, albeit excessive record.
The Band :
David DeFeis - vocals, keyboards, producer
Ed Pursino - *all guitars, bass
Joey Ayvazian - drums
After the five year hiatus of American heavy metal band Virgin Steele, the band came back to the studio and released a comeback album, "Life Among the Ruins." Though not seen as a bad album per say, Life Among the Ruins is generally considered the bands weakest point, as it alienated many fans. Gone was the epic proportions of the bands previous works, and in was straightforward hard rock with glam metal leanings.
When the album received poor reception, Virgin Steele decided to kick it back into gear, and turn it up to 11. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" is the product of a band that, for the better part of six years, hadn't written a proper sequel to their 80's outings.
"I Will Come For You" sets the album up beautifully, with it's charging guitars giving way to DeFeis's emotional verses. This song is a great representation of how a combination of meaningful lyrics and great vocals can really make a song stand out to the listener. It's essentially about a man, who's life was turned down when his hometown/village was overran and pillaged by a religious nation("Now all in darkness we wait for the end, hunted by men of the cloth. Murder and torture, they rape and they slaughter! Claiming the Way of the Cross). He compares the peace and tranquility of the times before the invasion, both in peace and death, to that of after the invasion("Once we had beauty our Sun blazed in passion, we lived alive. Far from the reaching of closed minded preaching, we lived and died"). He swears vengeance on those who took his life away, and the lives of others("Under tortured skies from a land with no sun, I will come for you. From Seven points of Darkness, beyond the mountains and the ruins, I will come for you. Across the Fields of Rage and Yearning, with Power in my hand, I will return. I will return.)
While some might call it ironically "preachy", the lyrics are very well done and resonate painfully, conjuring up images of the dark times, and the song is actually very fitting for this album, which is actually part of a trilogy of albums consisting of The Marriage of Heaven And Hell: Part I, Part II, and Invictus.
Beyond the opener, other songs are particular highlights as well. "Weeping of the Spirits" starts on a somber note with reverbed acoustics and a beautiful vocal performance, till the facade finally collapses in on itself and reveals DeFeis's devilish vocals and angry guitars.
"Warrior's Lament" is a 2 minute instrumental track that reinvigorates more variety on the record. The piano, flutes, and other instruments all combine to make something you'd hear off of a Final Fantasy soundtrack, and creates a very pleasant listening experience.
Track 8, "The Raven Song", seems to possess Judas Priest influences, as it's the closest the band gets at crafting a pure Speed Metal song, and even allows DeFeis to show off his Halford-esq screeches and screams.
Beyond that though, the most head-bangable track is definitely "The Last Supper." Featuring the return of DeFeis's devilish persona, The Last Supper sounds similar in it's tone to Opeth's song "Blackwater Park." Yes...I know said comparisons are quite ridicolous, but it's a compliment to the song nonetheless, and is probably the only thing that one could properly consider as an "Epic" on this release.
"Forever Will I Roam" and "House of Dust" are both in a sense power ballads, and are pretty good, though very over the top and somewhat strange compared to the rest of the record.
To other songs that grab your attention on the record are "Among the Ruins", and the closer "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." Among the Ruins was a song that was made for the previous album, but never made it to the record(supposedly due to the record label not appreciating it's length). It's a pretty good song and is definitely a rocker. The closer is an instrumental, which is suppose to be a sequel to the first song on the record, meant to tie up lose lessons, while also creating a never ending loop for the record. It's a pretty great instrumental and fairly soothing.
After all of this though...what problems does The Marriage of Heaven and Hell(I) have? Well, for one, a lot of it's cohesiveness is lost behind the time. The album in total is 1 hour and 10 minutes, and as such certain songs like "The Trial of Tears", "I Wake Up Screaming", and "Blood of the Saints", aren't very memorable in comparison to the rest of the songs. "Blood and Gasoline" and "Self Crucifixion" are actually pretty memorable tracks, but they aren't quite as good as the tracks surrounding them. And the tracks I mentioned earlier, the power ballads "Forever Will I Roam" and "House of Dust" aren't particularly amazing either, they're just memorable because of their style.
That's not to say there's a bad track on the record. Relativity speaking, they're all good, but they get lost in momentum between all the other songs. The album just feels to long for it's own good, and I suspect many that might check this record out, will only listen to the first few tracks being getting their fill.
On a smaller note, the guitars do feel a bit flat at times, but on another note, this is has pretty good production considering it was done by one band member. This isn't to much of an issue, but it is somewhat noticeable during certain songs.
In conclusion, Virgin Steele's Marriage of Heaven and Hell(I) is a great record. Every song is good, it's just that not every one stands out. There are great tracks on here forever, and if you're not keen on listening to a 70 minute record, at least check out the best tracks. The production can feel flat sometimes, but it's quite impressive for the circumstances. Highly recommended!
Best tracks :
I Will Come For You
Weeping of the Spirits
Last Supper
Warrior's Lament
The Raven Song
Life Among the Ruins
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
