Virgin Steele

Guardians of the Flame

...for "Don't say goodbye"

Review Score:

(6/10)
The early and mid 1980's was a great time for any headbanger. Heavy Metal was the musical genre that knocked out almost everything else. A lot of older bands (formed in the 1970's) finally got their big break, like Judas Priest and Motörhead. But there was also many newcomers or more unknown acts around. Some of these bands, like Saxon and Iron Maiden gained success rather quick, but bands like Samson, Vandenberg and Virgin Steele stood all a bit outside the spotlight.

Back in 1983 when "Guardians of the flame" was released, the opening track "Don't say goodbye (tonight)" struck me to be a very good song. I had totally forgotten about Virgin Steele till I recently came across this reissue (with bonus tracks), and I couldn't resist buying it. With hindsight, it's clear that Virgin Steele's "Guardians of the flame" is very time typical. Besides the mentioned "Don't say goodbye (tonight)", songs as "Life of crime" and "Hell or high water" are above average. On "The redeemer", Virgin Steele seem a bit inspired by the Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio) approach. For fans of the traditional 1980's way of metal, this album would certainly be of interest. The proper rating should end somewhere between 2 strong stars or 3 weaker ones, and I believe some people would even call this album a diamond in the rough.

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