The House of Atreus, Act I

The House of Atreus, Act I

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
1999 outing from the English dark metal group, a one act Barbaric-Romantic opera. 22 tracks. This disc serves as a soundtrack to the heavy metal opera, which is set to open in the U.S. in 2000.

The House of Atreus, Act I,Virgin Steele,Noise,Heavy Metal,Pop,Rock

Average customer rating:
The House of Atreus, Act I
Virgin Steele
Manufacturer: FAD
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000QXDHDS
Release Date: 2007-08-20

Tracks:

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

Average customer rating:

classic among classics from one of the half-dozen greatest rock bands ever
Interesting, but..
Great, different but cool.
Classic Metal
Virgin who?

The House of Atreus, Act I
Virgin Steele
Manufacturer: Noise
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Metal | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Progressive | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Marriage of Heaven & Hell, Pt. 2
The Marriage of Heaven & Hell
Visions of Eden: The Lilith Project (A Barbaric Romantic Movie of the Mind)
The House of Atreus, Act II
Hymns to Victory

ASIN: B00002MZ07
Release Date: 1999-11-16

Tracks:

KINGDOM OF THE FEARLESS (THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY)
BLAZE OF VICTORY (THE WATCHMAN'S SONG)
THROUGH THE RING OF FIRE
PRELUDE IN A MINOR (THE VOYAGE HOME)
DEATH DARKLY CLOSED THEIR EYES (THE MESSENGER'S SONG)
IN TRIUMPH OR TRAGEDY
RETURN OF THE KING
FLAMES OF THE BLACK STAR (THE ARROWS OF HERAKLES)
NARCISSUS
AND HECATE SMILED
A SONG OF PROPHECY
CHILD OF DESOLATION
G MINOR INVENTION (DECENT INTO DEATH'S TWILIGHT KINGDOM)
DAY OF WRATH
GREAT SWORD OF FLAME
THE GIFT OF TANTALOS
IPHIGENIA IN HADES
THE FIRE GOD
GARDEN OF LAMENTATION
AGONY AND SHAME
GATE OF KINGS
VIA SACRA

Album Description

1999 outing from the English dark metal group, a one act Barbaric-Romantic opera. 22 tracks. This disc serves as a soundtrack to the heavy metal opera, which is set to open in the U.S. in 2000.

Customer Reviews:

classic among classics from one of the half-dozen greatest rock bands ever.......2004-12-31

Talk about "sustained excellence". There not only isn't a bad track on any of the Virgin Steele albums since Invictus, there aren't even any average ones. Every single song (excepting only the ridiculous "Saturday Night" on Hymns to Victory, the hits package) on all of these albums -- and that's hours of music -- is simply as good as epic, symphonic, "true" or power metal get.
It doesn't seem like they ever did get a high level of commerical success. It doesn't matter. We don't judge artists by their popularity nor by their worst works, we judge them by the aesthetic and spiritual quality of their greatest works. This record is one of the greatest albums in this genre you will ever hear. Virgin Steele deserves every bit of their legendary position in the history of metal, even if it's only the elites who seem to know they exist. You must add this one (and Invictus, and Part Two, and for that matter all their records with Pursino) to your collection right away -- unless you're some kind of tasteless doofus, of course, in which case you likely wouldn't have found out about this band anyway.

Interesting, but.........2003-10-10

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........2002-02-26

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.......2001-10-17

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.

Virgin who?.......2001-06-27

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.

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