Heavy metal outfit VIRGIN STEELE have a plethora of updates and new content to share with their fans. The New York-based quartet led by original vocalist David DeFeis is currently in the studio working on their new studio album (which is expected to see a 2020 release), but in the meantime the group has put out three brand new videos; each relating to the band’s 2006 release Visions of Eden, which the band classifies as a “Barbaric-Romantic.” Visions of Eden received a 2-disc re-release in 2017 on SPV/Steamhammer, which can be found here.
The first new video is an “Inside The Music” style mini-documentary discussing the Visions of Eden album, which in narrative is an exploration of the goddess Lilith. Virgin Steele explore this tale (referenced as “The Lilith Project: A Barbaric-Romantic Movie of the Mind”) in audio/visual fashion. The video/documentary functions as a brief essay that explains, track by track, the themes being presented in the album. Using narration, film clips, still photos, and of course plenty of music, the band dives into both the album and the “Lilith Metal-Opera” that they had previously presented in Germany.
Video for “Behind The Music” mini-documentary for Visions of Eden: https://youtu.be/RPGO_EABOOM
About ‘VISIONS OF EDEN’:
The 2006 studio album from Virgin Steele concerns Lilith, the first “wife” of Adam. In actuality Lilith is the Female Principle Of Divinity, and she is a rebel. Should you need a frame of reference from the male perspective, perhaps she can be considered as something akin to a female Prometheus if you will? However…She is actually something infinitely more powerful. She is the manifestation of the Primal Energy, the Life force, and Creativity. Indeed She is a major part of the Origin Of All Life itself.
Due to the tremendous appeal, power and popularity of the Great Goddess within early “Pagan” society/religions / “mystery cults”, etc., Patriarchal, Male God worshiping societies felt their status threatened, and therefore enacted laws and actions in which the worship of the Goddess was made illegal. She was demonized, and many attempts were made to inspire scorn and hate against her among women. These attempts were too successful, and the story of Visions of Eden seeks to parallel what occurred so long, long ago, concerning this paradigm shift and destruction, and the reverberations that can still be felt all along the corridors of Time through to our own era today.
The following two videos are for the tracks God Above God and The Hidden God from Visions of Eden. Speaking about the new video for the former, DeFeis says,
“The GOD ABOVE GOD video discusses both the paradigm shift mentioned above, and the idea of how the “Black Angels” (3 rather unpleasant Beings on the album)…try to turn Lilith into the opposite of what she actually is. This video begins with a short summation that depicts the idea that everything that is occurring in the album is all happening now, in the mind of a real life modern day woman as she is being raped. As the video develops the viewer becomes privy to Lilith’s torment, and hears her cries and appeals to the GOD ABOVE GOD.”
Video for God Above God: https://youtu.be/sjvIIur7kvw
The final released video is for the track The Hidden God. DeFeis shares his comments on the both the video and its deeper meanings, stating,
“The video for THE HIDDEN GOD is performed from the perspective of the character Samael…who is also the character Adam. He has this dual nature aspect, and our main character Lilith is of course clearly represented in all her various aspects as well. This clip is very atmospheric, but also quite hallucinogenic and dark as the subject matter for the entire album and the song itself is dealing with rape, murder, and the destruction of certain ancient societies, beliefs, and a particular philosophy and way of life. In the case of this particular video for THE HIDDEN GOD, viewers will also find a sardonic sense of humor injected into the proceedings.”
Video for The Hidden God: https://youtu.be/2MCKsAtyp-A
In addition to the release of these new videos and a late 2020 release of their newest studio album, VIRGIN STEELE fans can next expect a series of video releases pertaining to the band’s Gothic Voodoo Anthems LP, as well as the Ghost Harvest – Vintage I & Ghost Harvest – Vintage II LPs. Stay tuned for more details on all upcoming releases.
