Just about one of the very best USPM bands to ever walk the earth, Long Island’s Virgin Steele will be re-issuing their first two albums on August 23, 2024, via SPV/Steamhammer. Although the band would create epic masterworks like ‘The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell’ and ‘Invictus’ in the 90s, their first two rough and ready albums are classic examples of early US metal that cannot be ignored. Frontman/keyboarder David DeFeis has completely re-mixed the albums start to finish from the original multi-tracks. The booklet includes new liner-notes and new unreleased photos.
 
He states regarding the first album: ”Every song on the album has been lovingly restored, with faith, heart & Steele. Incredibly for the most part the original multi-track tapes held up quite well, but now and again some creative decisions had to be made, which not only did not at all hinder the record’s resurrection, but in the end actually resulted in making the album stronger, and the songs even more interesting. The original fire has been kept…enhanced, and sonically there is greater definition all around. You can really appreciate the explosive performances from everyone. It’s like being back in the studio the day it was recorded. In addition to the inclusion of the early demos, we were also able to include several new bonus tracks including a new thrashing doom type song called ‘Hell From Beyond The Stats’, plus an alternate version of ‘The Fire God’, and a new over the top version of the song ‘Virgin Steele’.” 

David states regarding the second album: “It was a joy to go back to the original multi-tracks, listen and find all the various outtakes, studio chatter and even a long forgotten piano solo that I had done. In resurrecting this album, I did my best to try to preserve the original feel and integrity of what we were trying to achieve, while at the same time hoping to make it sonically clearer and more direct. The original energy and exuberant fire remains…and there is greater definition all around. For me it feels like being back in those days again only with the knowledge gained from having lived several lives since then. The full album is represented in its original entirety, plus we have included the tracks from the extended play single we had issued right after ‘Guardians’, and in addition to that we were also able to include several new bonus tracks, such as the lost diabolical piano solo from the original ‘Guardians’, a new alternate version of the song ‘Desert Plains’, a brand new track called ‘Dirty Blonde Angel’ that I had actually written for the ‘Age Of Consent’ album but we had never recorded until now, so there’s a lot of new stuff to get stuck into.”

Both re-releases will be released on August 23rd, 2024 worldwide through SPV/Steamhammer as CD DigiPak, 2LP Gatefold (in black vinyl), download and stream.

Pre-Order Link “Virgin Steele I – The Anniversary Edition”:
https://VirginSteele.lnk.to/VirginSteele1
 
Pre-Order Link “Guardians Of The Flame – The Anniversary Edition”: https://VirginSteele.lnk.to/Guardians