Virgin Steele is an American heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981. The band released a few career highlights albums (Noble Savage, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II and Invictus). In recent years, they have enriched their sound with elements of musical theatre, progressive and symphonic metal, developing and writing projects such as the metal opera The House of Atreus (based on Oresteia and the Greek myth related to the Atreides) in 1999/2000 and the soundtrack for an imaginary movie Visions of Eden (A Barbaric Romantic Movie of the Mind) or The Lilith Project (based on the Sumerian legend of Lilith) in 2006. History Origins At the beginning of the 1980s, Jack Starr (a guitarist of French origin) was looking for the right elements to form the ultimate heavy metal band. The first to answer his call was drummer Joey Ayvazian and together they started jamming and auditioning singers. Future L.A. Guns bassist Kelly Nickels joined them in 1981. They auditioned around 40 singers before David DeFeis was introduced to Jack by a friend of Joey. With an interpretation of "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin, "Child in Time" by Deep Purple and "Catch the Rainbow" by Rainbow, David got the vacant role of singer, bringing with him bassist Joe O'Reilly. At the end of 1981 the first line-up was ready. The debut album Virgin Steele debuted in 1982 with "Children of the Storm" (a song loved by Metallica), included in the compilation "U.S. Metal Vol. II". Later they issued their self-titled first album. Their style was and remains very original, a melding of American heavy metal and Rainbow's epic atmospheres. DeFeis, who also plays piano and keyboards, shows a particular liking for pompous and melodic arrangements, while Starr goes for a harder and more immediate assault. Fan mail was becoming more interesting. Two letters in particular stand out, one from a young band, who were from Seattle. Their name was Queensrÿche. The other, from California, also a band, who called themselves Metallica. The second album The following year (1983) the second album Guardians of the Flame was supported by a mini LP called Wait for the Night ("A Cry in the Night" in the European version). After the album, Jack Starr started recording his first solo album, Out of the Darkness. Meanwhile, DeFeis continued the band with