Virgin Steele is an American heavy metal band from Long Island, New York. In their latest albums, they use elements of symphonic and progressive metal, their style is sometimes called epic metal. They play what they call "barbaric-romantic" metal, very symphonic with many features of classical music.
The group was formed in the early 1980s by Jack Starr, a guitarist of French origin, who wanted to find the recipe to form the ultimate heavy metal band. The first to answer the call is drummer Joey Ayvazian, and together they began to audition singers. After about forty candidates, a friend of Joey presents David DeFeis to Jack. Led Zeppelin's No Quarter , in "> Child in Time by Deep Purple and Rainbow's Catch the Rainbow have given him the role of singer, a role he has kept since. To complete the training, David brings with him the bassist Joe O'Reilly to replace Kelly Nichols he finds bad. They rehearse for three weeks and enter the studio to record what they think is a demo, but that will become their first album, Virgin Steele , which they send to metal / rock magazines. From there, Mike Varney, the president of Shrapnel Records, calls to signify his intention to include a single from the band in his compilation US metal Vol 2 . Children of the Storm is the track that will be chosen.
At the beginning of 1983, they published their second album, Guardians of the Flame , as well as two EP, Cry in the Night (in Europe) and Wait for the Night (in the United States). Their style was and remains very original, namely a mix of American heavy metal and epic atmospheres in the Rainbow. But David shows a particular interest in pompous and melodic arrangements, while Jack prefers more violent attacks. Jack will compete with the rest of the group and will start recording a solo album in 1984. According to him, he was even ousted from the group by DeFeis and the manager of the time because they wanted to keep all rights>.
That's when Edward Pursino joined the group. Then Noble Savage was recorded in 1986. In 1987, the band toured Europe twice: one with Manowar> and the other with Black Sabbath. This is the beginning of the group's worldwide fame; they follow on the recording of Age of Consent which will be released in 1988. Between 1988 and 1992 the group goes through a dark period during which no album is saved. Tensions are strong between the group and their manager, and Joe O'Reilly decides to leave the group in 1992. This separation is also questionable, Joe will later declare to have been dismissed without knowing it really, having seen an announcement in a newspaper saying the band was looking for a new bassist.
