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Virgin Steele's latest release is definitely one of the best albums I've heard in the last ten years.  The House Of Atreus Act I is a metal opera whose story begins on the final night of the Trojan War.  I won't waste time and space recounting the story here, everything is in the CD booklet and on the Virgin Steele Web Site.

David Defeis's songwriting is just amazing.  It is impressive to see the amount of work that went into the story and lyrics, along with the music itself, which is very well adapted to the story.  The album is made of 22 tracks, ranging from piano-only ballads to high-octane metal.  As can be expected from an opera, you'll also find some narration here and there on the album.  What can I say, this album is just great.  The only problem I found is that there is a split-second delay between tracks and that sometimes breaks the "mood" of the moment.  As far as I know, this could have been avoided, and hopefully will not be repeated in Act 2 scheduled for release sometime this year.  The problem is annoying enough to take a half-point off the rating, which is why I didn't give a 6/5.

This is an album I enjoy more and more every time I listen to it, the kind of album you just "get into".  I don't know if the previous Virgin Steele albums are in the same vein as this one, but I sure will be buying Act 2 when it comes out.