I have the "Opposing Forces / Beyond" compilation which is great, I've mentioned it a few times on here. I was horribly disappointed when "Vicious Dominion" was released. Its extremely weak in comparison to their old stuff.

Good to know. I'm of the opinion that Vicious Dominion is a fairly solid album, especially the riffs (perhaps it needs a bit of work chorus-wise, but I never felt that was the focus while listening, as opposed to bands that are all about the buildup to an epic chorus), so to know they've got something even better is great. I'll have to keep an eye out for/search up on youtube Opposing Forces/Beyond.

Top 3 VS songs? I never could get into them.

Plenty could go wrong with the new Virgin Steele album. I just hope they manage to redeem themselves this time.

On roooar.com I found songtitles of their upcoming album. I really wouldn't know what to expect from these at all. Queen of the Dead? To Darkness Eternal? Lucifer's Hammer? Sounds generic yet metal-as-fuck to me. Gives me the idea we won't be in for another silly overlong album but something more superficial and straightforward instead. Cool to see that one disc of the Ghost Harvest stuff got put inside the second disc. Definitely curious about hearing those. The Black Sabbath cover could be interesting, too.

Okay, I'll bite.

Life Among the Ruins, the album closer from Marriage I. Amazing closer, has great buildup to the chorus which is one of the greatest things of all time. YOU WERE A ROSE, YOU WERE A BLADE! Just nothing to dislike about this song at all.

Child of Desolation, this one is a ballad, but it's up there with shit like MC's "Waiting for a Savior" in contention for best fucking ballad ever, just so melancholic and mournful, perfect.

Kingdom of the Fearless, from Atreus I like CoD is, this one is just an epic as fuck opener, galloping forward with equal parts venom and majesty and just rolling over everything in its way. The song that got me into VS and perhaps still my favorite song of theirs.

Of course there are plenty of others to choose from even among the best of VS's catalog, and "Emalaith" and "Veni Vidi Vici" are definitely up there for me as well but with both clocking in at 10-11 minutes I didn't want to be too intimidating. Just one of the best heavy metal bands to come around, and their 'classic' string in the 90s is probably the best string of 5 albums ever consecutively released by any band, ever. \m/


Re: song titles for new album - the titles on disc 1 actually look decent, although of course it's impossible to tell much of anything just from that. However, fuck needing to have 2 discs. They keep saying they're going to release all these huge albums constantly and then never release anything, just release 1 album of 1 disc that's decent quality, damnit!

Right on the money. I'll believe they actually have a new album when I'm listening to it, and not a second before that. Though it SEEMS like they really are releasing something now...song titles look pretty solid.

As long as it's a bonus (which it is) I don't see anything wrong with another disc of music. I might as well pick up this version instead of one disc version.

That is, if the album actually comes out this time!

''Crown of Glory'' and ''Child of Desolation'' are my favorite VS tunes. Others from their 1994-2000 era are amazing too, there's just too many to mention which would depend on my mood.

A lot of people overlook Invictus, but in my opinion it's just as good as the ones that came before and after. It's a more "epic" than the Marriage albums, but more song-based than the Atreus albums. It strikes a good middle ground, and I'd say is probably the best album to get first, just because it gives the best picture of their overall sound without putting new fans off with interludes and top-heavy concepts like the Atreus albums have. Marriage pt. II is still my favorite, but Invictus is a close second (despite the slightly wonky production).

I've got to say that the guitartone on Invictus and the House of Atreus series bug me slightly more nowadays. They're just a bit too dry sounding at times while the guitartone on the Marriage series sounded thick, full and really rich. I wish Edward had never abandoned that one.

Don't be all colin about it, nothing is perfect.

You know what? Phantom's Cyberchrist might be even better than any Vicious Rumors album (and they don't make me type in American English). Hell, I might even like Falcon Eddie better than Carl Albert.

As for Invictus being overlooked, I always thought it was their most popular album... maybe not here, but you could never call it overlooked.

Oh yeah, Invictus definitely rules pretty hard. I like Marriage II quite a bit more and Marriage I slightly more than it, but I actually think the production is kind of cool, at least for some of the songs that are more "barrage of riffs in your face," mostly on the first half of the album like the title track, and "Sword of the Gods." I guess it doesn't work quite as well with the moodier numbers like "A Whisper of Death" (guess there really aren't many moody numbers here?) but I never even really notice it, so it doesn't detract much for me. "Dominion Day" is pretty meh and "Defiance" seems a little underdeveloped, but on the whole it's fantastic. Great flow, and manages to produce a fair amount of musical variation despite being probably the most aggressive album overall.

Re: Cyberchrist - I'm probably in the mood for that album more often than for most Vicious Rumors, but I'm not sure I'd say it's straight up better than Digital Dictator or Welcome to the Ball. It's much more in your face and ball-ripping, but DD and WttB change up the pace more often and provide a more complete experience I think. I wouldn't put one squarely above the other (i.e. CC vs. DD or CC vs. WttB) as they require different moods but both are top-shelf awesome stuff for sure.

Thanks for the recs Jophelerx.

No problem bro. Let us know what you think! I'm sure the regulars would welcome an addition to the Virgin Steele circle jerk.

I don't know if I'd go that far, but Phantom is definitely A-level stuff. They were just wayyyy too late to get any real popularity, unfortunately. Be sure to check out the second album too, it's not as consistent but its high points are amazing.




Nah, I just meant it's overlooked among our group here, doesn't get brought up in discussion nearly as much as the two before or two after.

Barging into the Virgin Steele discussion a bit late, but Invictus is my favorite album of theirs by a looooonnnnng shot. So many great tracks, especially the title track and "Veni, Vidi, Vici."

I'd second the recommendation of the 'Life Among the Ruins' track, also worthwhile could be 'Agony and Shame' and 'The Evil in Her Eyes' for something earlier on, as it were. 'Garden of Lamentation' is also a pretty great song. Their albums are quite varied, so it depends on what you're looking for.

I love Rage and Communic but man those riffs are crap. You got me all excited

Yeah wtf, those riffs sound borderline djent-ish.

Tony's taste also sucks balls, let's be fair.

How does HPS feel about the new Tribulation?
Its obviously not pure HPS but the new album basically is a more extreme metal take on In Solitude's Sister. Got plenty of classic metal elements.

My favorite VS song for a while has been I Will Come For You, I'm not sure what other VS fans think of it.

So far I dig this Tribulation. This is coming from someone who hasn't heard their other albums yet. The thing sounds like a dark yet somewhat retained piece of work. I wish the guitar tone had more edge to it though.

What's the general consensus on Warlord around here? Are they up there with Jag Panzer, Omen, Brocas Helm etc, or more of a 3rd stringer as far as USPM goes?

Also, I'm sure you guys have discussed it at length already, but I'm checking out the Visigoth album and I am really really impressed. This vocalist is excellent, has a lot of restraint and a knack for melodies that just sound... right. Every cadence leaves me impressed and nodding my head in approval. He meshes really well with the guitar melodies. This is probably the best revival-style power metal album I've heard so far.

I really like Warlord, but unlike the majority of posters I've seen on the subject here, my favorite Warlord release is their newest The Holy Empire. Just excellent epic heavy metal, and was my favorite release of 2013. I also quite like Delivers Us and Rising Out of the Ashes, but I don't listen to either much anymore. I've only downloaded and listened to the And the Cannons... studio album a couple times, but I've enjoyed it each time. I'm (im)patiently waiting for Alone Records to reissue it.

I dig Warlord (and Lordian Guard), but for me, they fit a different sort of mood than those bands. I might place them a bit more in the epic heavy metal camp than USPM, I think.

I still need to check out that Visigoth album. I haven't heard anything from them since I checked out their demo on virtue of "oh, the Gallowbraid guy is playing (or singing, rather) USPM nowadays? that sure isn't what I expected!" and I forget what I even thought about it.

Warlord is okay, and they have some pretty solid songs here and there, but consistency of riffs on the level of Omen and Brocas Helm definitely isn't there. Honestly I think they're really overrated by a lot of people; they can be fun, but are low 2nd tier at best and more likely 3rd tier. Those who list them as one of the 'USPM classics' really make me scratch my head, but then there's other stuff like Savatage which is also praised as top-tier which I find mediocre, so just different strokes I guess.

Lordian Guard is fucking awesome. The first album is one of my all time favorite albums.

I keep forgetting about Lordian Guard (I am pretty sure you're the person who introduced me to them).
A really interesting and unusual band that somehow keeps falling through the cracks of my mind.

Visigoth is awesome indeed, but I don't want to say they're perfect yet, I think they can get even better. Give them room to grow!

3rd stringer. They just don't have the consistency to be more than that, although an album full of their best songs could put them in a strong 2nd-tier position if they had been able to pull that off. It does come across more as epic heavy metal with some USPM than straight USPM though, more like Tyrant or Brocas Helm than Jag Panzer or Crimson Glory.

I recently found these guys while browsing aimlessly on youtube, they're Venezuelan, and play somewhat progressive, fast, symphonic power metal. I was blown away, some great stuff here.

I'll let the music speak for itself: http://www.reverbnation.com/aphelium

So far they've only released that three track demo, hopefully we'll see more from them in the future.

WARLORD are a 3rd stringer? I can't believe I'm hearing this.

They're first rate without a doubt.

Their drumming and guitar playing has few peers, both in composition/taste and musicianship.

Not to mention they have their own distinct style in the very crowded field of heavy/power metal.

"Deliver Us" is a complete masterpiece.

They are FAR superior to JAG PANZER, OMEN, TYRANT, BROCAS HELM, and most any others.

Their reunion stuff is hit or miss, which is par for the course with even the best metal reunions.

I can't remember a certain band name and need help. I only remember that one of their
(two) album covers was white, had a big bloody chainsaw drawing (with blues and blacks)
on it and the band's name was possibly made up of two words. They were an 80s band
and IIRC playing some kind of metalpunk… (not sure on this). Any ideas?

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Bl ... %21/438435

I still want to hear it. Never found a copy at a reasonable price.

Blood Money are really good, yeah. Sort of a weird hybrid of thrash and NWOBHM with awesome brassy vocals, a bit like Russ North on steroids.

Thanks, Jonpo! Exactly what I was looking for! Brain is at ease now...

Just came across Onward while looking at the past work of Michael Grant. Evermoving got some decent reviews. So far it sounds pretty good, but not amazing. I'm so used to power metal singers having those crazy highs, Grant seems subdued by comparison. Strong singer, if not the widest range. Curious if anyone here as any thoughts on them, or on power metal with that same mid-range singing while you're at it.

"Evermoving" is a masterpiece in my book. Amazing riffs and melodies. One of the best metal albums of the last 20 years. Grant's strength is in his melodies/harmonies, not his range which frankly is a breath of fresh air in the power metal scene.

I quite like Warlord and even The Holy Empire was better than i expected.
Lordian Guard sounds a bit too much like greek wedding metal to me with those keyboard drums.