New York-based power metal band Virgin Steele, led by founder/frontman David DeFeis, is as cult as it gets. Although the band (in one form or another) has been around since 1981, it still doesn’t seem to get the recognition it deserves on this side of the Atlantic. On its 14th full-length release, Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation, the band invokes classic Virgin Steele-isms that longtime fans will recognize and appreciate. There are the usual multi-layered piano/keyboard arrangements lying underneath the raucous rhythms that give the music a classical and medieval feel. The band’s progressive and symphonic elements are also still intact, topped off with DeFeis’ many unique vocal shapes, consisting of high-pitched wails to whispered croons to raspy growls.

CD-opener “Lucifers Hammer” immediately begins with that classic Virgin Steele mid-paced driving rhythm, crunchy riffs and pounding double bass rudiments. The falsetto-laced chorus of “Queen Of The Dead” will surely invite a raucous singalong. “Black Sun – Black Mass” and “Demolition Queen” sports some smokin’ eighties style metal guitar riffs that hearkens back to the band’s Nobel Savage period while orchestral and percussion (timpani) arrangements add to the brooding classical element on “Persephone”. Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation combines both parts of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell with the heavier parts of Invictus and the symphonic elements of their last album, 2010’s The Black Light Bacchanalia. Consisting of 14 tracks at 79 minutes, Nocturnes Of Hellfire & Damnation is a long album to invest in. However, if you’re already familiar with typical Virgin Steele compositions, then it won’t be an issue. DeFeis & Co. serve up some classic power metal done in a way that only a band such as Virgin Steele knows how to deliver.