[.ca] House of Atreus Act 1

Virgin who?:
What happened to the Virgin Steele of the early 80's? If you are familiar with old V.S. then this may disapoint you. It Has a couple of good tracks and is sort of interesting. Defeis vocals have harshened with time and he is the only original member left. Sounds kind of like Manilla Road.

Interesting, but..:
Ok, this album reminds me of a band playing Manowar a la "triumph of steel" but with much less power. There are some good songs, and the album gets 3 stars simply from Defeis' voice and some very good guitar solos. The production however is horrible, with no power in the guitars and leaving that metal power feeling completely lacking. Another major flaw is that the keyboards are terrible, laughable, and from reading what Mr. Defeis writes on his website and liner notes, you'd think he's the next Mozart or something. That is not the case, he obviously has no flair for keyboard arrangements and some melodies are laughable (track 9). Sometimes it reminds me of Rhapsody's melodic sense, always wanting to modulate in the middle of the riff, interesting but to me not very satisfying. I also have a problem with the fact that in the liner notes he doesn't credit ANY musicians!!! What an ego-maniac! I know he wrote it all, and good for him, but come on, somebody had to help!

Great, different but cool.:
I like these guys. They add good guitar riffs to classical music. Some of the solo piano can get a little dull.(Thank goodness for CD burners) I put the best songs from the three cd's on one disk. (House of Atreus Act 1 and 2 makes three cd's total.) Everyone I know doesn't like them along with bands like Blind Guardian and Rhapsody. But it's their loss. Get these albums, they are different but cool.

Classic Metal:
As the title implies "The House Of Atreus Act 1" is the first CD of a set. The story is told in 2 Acts and the second CD is not surprisingly called "The House Of Atreus Act 2". The action of "The House Of Atreus Act 1" takes place after the fall of Troy. It tells of the fate of Agamemnon King of Argos upon his return to his homeland. I won't go into details sufficient to say that its full of death and betrayals. There are 10 different characters in the story. David Defeis sings all the parts. The only way to tell which character sings what is by consulting the booklet. David Defeis range is quite majestic going from a low treble to a high falsetto. The album could be termed a metal opera in the truest sense. Overall the music is very grandiose and atmospheric. The album is composed of 22 songs. Four of the songs are 2 minutes or less and 3 more are 3 minutes or less. These songs are used as a transition from one scene to another or to set the mood for the next song and do an excellent job in the process. The album's song ranges from fast and melodic metal to gentler keyboard and acoustically driven songs. Each style complementing and enhancing the distinct trait of each other. This album is a very effective melding of classical, opera and heavy metal. The best songs on the album included "Kingdom of The Fearless" which kick starts the album with furious rifting and non stop bass drums. "Ring of Fire" another of the metal songs aptly demonstrate Dave Defies vocal range and serious memorable backing vocals. "Flames of the Black Star" with its catchy headbanging chorus. "And Hecate smiled" starts with David signing melodically while the piano and guitar slowly join him to rise into a frentic crescendo that then proceeds to slow down mournfully. There is not a weak song in the bunch. Overall an extremely good metal album that should be in the collection of any smart metal head.

• Kingdom of the Fearless \oThe Destruction of Troy\c
• Blaze of Victory (The Watchman's Song)
• Through the Ring of Fire
• Prelude in a Minor (The Voyage Home) \oInstrumental\c
• Death Darkly Closed Their Eyes (The Messenger's Song)
• In Triumph or Tragedy \oInstrumental\c
• Return of the King
• Flames of the Black Star \oThe Arrows of Herakles\c
• Narcissus \oInstrumental\c
• And Hecate Smiled
• Song of Prophecy (Piano Solo) \oInstrumental\c
• Child of Desolations
• G Minior Invention ... \oDescent into Death's Twilight Kingdom\c
• Day of Wrath \oInstrumental\c
• Great Sword of Flame
• Gift of Tantalos
• Iphigenia in Hades
• Fire God
• Garden of Lamentation
• Agony and Shame
• Gate of Kings
• Via Sacra \oInstrumental\c