Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Virgin Steele is a heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981. The band released a few career highlights albums (Noble Savage, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II and Invictus). In recent years, they have enriched their sound with elements of musical theatre, progressive and symphonic metal, developing and writing projects such as the Metal Opera “The House of Atreus” (based on Oresteia and the Greek myth related to the Atreides) in 1999/2000 and the soundtrack for an imaginary movie Visions of Eden (A Barbaric Romantic Movie of the Mind) aka “The Lilith Project” (based on the sumerian legend of Lilith) in 2006.

Their new album “The Black Light Bacchanalia”, was released October 25, 2010 via SPV/Steamhammer. Virgin Steele are: David DeFeis (Vocals, Keyboards, Orchestration & Sword), Edward Pursino (Guitars), Frank Gilchriest (Drums and Pandemonium), Josh Block (Bass Guitar).

…and today I have a great pleasure to have a chat with David De Feis…

David, welcome to Metal Shock. How are you doing today?

Hi Tarja, I am well thanks for asking. Cheers!

Your new, album ‘The Black Light Bacchanalia’ has been released in Europe October 22 and 25th, what do you expect from it?

I really don’t know. I hope that people will enjoy it and have it become the soundtrack for some portion of their lives…

What does the title, ‘The Black Light Bacchanalia’, mean? And why this choice?

Well…it is my way of saying something like “This insane Life”….It should be thought of in the same spirit as the way Dante called his Work “The Divine Comedy”. He was discussing Life in all its multifaceted craziness, and I mean something similar with the phrase, “The Black Light Bacchanalia”. I too am speaking about Life and all its attendant drama, aches, & pains, pathos, joys & sorrows. By that phrase I also mean “The Great Reversal”. Where when one culture conquers another, the deities of the conquered people become the demons of the conquerors religion. Everything is turned upside down…topsy-turvy. This is essentially what happened to Paganism & Gnosticism. The Pagans were killed off, and their worship of Bacchus/Dionysus with their bacchanalias was suppressed. But…in the glow of the Black Light things that are white are illuminated… the other colors fade into the shadows…The Pagans went underground….

The title actually was part of a poem I was writing for a song that might end up on the next album. I thought it had a nice ring to it, and as i explained above…this was the motivation and the actual track sums up the entire story, with the AGE THAT IS TO COME being…the dark ages…

What is different about this album compared to your other ones?

It is more extreme…it pushes the boundaries of the style further ahead… Using the 12 notes that are found in Western Civilization’s Music, I feel that I was able to invoke new emotions and new combinations of these notes and chords that I have not utilized before. For example tracks like TO CROWN THEM WITH HALOS & THE BLACK LIGHT BACCHANALIA (The Age That Is to Come), contain various Musical elements & moods that have never before appeared on a VIRGIN STEELE album. That kind of mutant riffing and that kind of bizarre sequence in the bridge of the latter tune are quite different for us. It is darker than before in certain areas, and also more straight ahead in others. I think there is a nice balance between the various styles we do.

I have heard you saying that this album seems like a debut one. What do you mean by that?

I mean that it has that kind of “we’re out to prove ourselves” fire that many debut albums have, and it is well paced and diverse yet also quite connected. It contains that kind of spontaneity and raw passion that makes it seem so fresh. It sounds like we are all very excited about what we are doing. When I first heard all the tracks back to back in one go, it reminded me of the feelings I got upon listening to the first 2 Led Zeppelin albums, or Van Halen’s debut or Queen 1. It just felt so alive and reckless, polished, yet wild. I hope that everyone will find a place for it in their hearts & minds…

Between this and your last album Visions of Eden there are 4 years. What have you done in the meantime?

Loved and Lost…experienced sorrow, pain & joy, drank oceans of wine, given concerts, and written numerous songs and recorded like wild…Found a new home with SPV for the band, etc.. etc…

So, Your new album has just come out … but I have heard that you’re already preparing the new one, which will be released next year … How the thing are proceeding, and can you already reveal something about it?

Things are proceeding nicely. I have several different “song collections” that I am working with…Which one will be the first to be unleashed still remains to be seen…Once I know that…then I can tell you more. Ask me again in a month… 😀

Yes I will David! On the album “Visions of Eden” you began a tale about Lilith, and “The Black Light Bacchanalia” brings it to its conclusion, with the death of Lilith. … can you tell us about the story, and why this theme?

Yes it is a concept album. It does continue the tale I began on the “Visions Of Eden” album, and brings those elements to their conclusion, with the death of Lilith (in TO CROWN THEM WITH HALOS) & also God finally lamenting all the damage he has done & the havoc he has wrought in ETERNAL REGRET. I equate Lilith with Hypatia (the ancient Pagan astronomer/philosopher of Alexandria, who was murdered by Monks) & Joan Of Arc, and & Lyzebel, (a Sumerian Queen who most people know as Jezebel), (but that name is a perversion of the original Lyzebel, which means Baal is exalted) (She too was murdered), as well as all the various Goddess figures. I continue the discussion of the death of Paganism and the eradication of the Female Goddess Principle due to the rise of the Mountain-Fire-Father God, but I go further with discussing the rise of “organized” religion and its mark upon Paganism, and the subsequent coming of the Dark Ages. However, that being said, I am really discussing today’s Dark Ages, and the rise of fundamentalism in all walks of Life, not only religion, but politics, and everywhere else. And ultimately the album is about Rebellion. Rebellion against authority, God, government, whatever…. etc….This is quite clear in songs like THE ORPHEUS TABOO. I wanted to open a discussion about how today’s “organized religions” owe a great debt to the earlier Pagan & Gnostic beliefs. I believe that if today’s religions acknowledged this debt they would be richer for it, and all the various factions could come together in a Spirit of Harmony…And I wanted to open a dialogue about Women and the long road that they have traveled…and the injustices they have suffered…to hopefully reach a place where they can receive better treatment and the Earth begin to heal itself…

What has been, so far, the highlight of your career? And the worst one?

There have been many…but I have to say that right now is perhaps the best time. There is more interest in us than ever before, and we are still here and still very strong creatively, so this in itself is Magick to me…The worst period was between Age Of Consent & Life Among The Ruins, when everything had to be rebuilt and moral was quite low…

You have many fans around the world. What is your relationship with them?

Strong, loving, very rewarding..I get the most amazing words from people from all over the World saying how much the Music helped them through difficult moments in their lives, and to me…this is always intensely rewarding…To learn that something we created helped another Soul in distress is truly astounding…It shows the connection of Life and the possibilities that Music has to reach across all divides…

Reading your lyrics, it can be said safely that you have a special interest in classical culture. Where and how did you get this passion?

Growing up, the World of Myth… was always around me. I grew up in a house where my Father was directing, producing and acting in Plays…and some of those Plays were Greek Drama…and that is how this interest began for me. I was intrigued by these Plays and then I started reading the Myths, and it seemed like the Myths were all around me in my daily Life. That World always seems ever present to me…always there in open sight.

Who or what is your favorite historical figure and why?

In terms of Myth it is Dionysus, for he is the tragic God…the dying & resurrecting God. He is the most human of the Gods. I also love Demeter and Persephone…again…they mirror the seasons and the cycle of life, death & rebirth…In terms of actual historical figures… hmmm…perhaps Beethoven. He had tremendous talent and strength and he was the bridge to the Romantic Music that came later…

When you write a song, how do you proceed to its completion?

My inspiration comes from …living Life, observing, partaking…and then translating that into a kind of poetic image that can be sung. Sometimes the spark comes to me in the form of a lyric or title first, other times it comes from a series of chords that I am improvising with, or other times music 7 lyrics come together at the same moment…But whatever method strikes me first, the real task is then sitting down and working/playing with the ideas to fully develop them into a full fledged song. This takes discipline, perseverance and commitment…

You are also the producer of most of the albums of Virgin Steele. Is it another passion, or simply you get a better result this way?

Another passion, and one initially born of necessity and budget constraints…It is something that I really enjoy it. I have all the ideas of what I want to do with each song, so I don’t need that outside person saying try this or that…I have no shortage of ideas that plague me…

Virgin Steele was founded in 1981. What did you listen back then? And how has your musical taste or favorite bands changed in these years?

I listened to Queen, Led Zeppelin, UFO, Rainbow, Van Halen, etc…Black Sabbath….I still enjoy those bands. These days I listen to a lot of soundtracks, instrumental classical music, and Gothic, Blues & some Black metal…and of course all the VIRGIN STEELE albums… 🙂

What do you think about music of the Third Millennium? With other words, in your opinion, the new genres of today are innovative?

What third millennium??? Today I am more interested in the Gothic genre, but I also like some things I heard by Muse & My Chemical Romance…I still enjoy Robert Plant’s work, THE CULT, etc…

Do you think technology could kill the music? Or could it possibly help?

It doesn’t kill Music, but it can make some people lazy about really getting their chops together….

And now David, the last question, as a rite… what would you like to say to your fans that are reading this interview?

Cheers & Thanks very much for all your great Belief & Support!!!See you all again very soon! Have a Glorious, Samhain…
BY THE BLACK SUN & MOON,
David DeFeis-November 1, 2010

Thank You David for this interview! It was a great pleasure!

All the Photos are taken from Virgin Steele Myspace Page.