Life Among the Ruins” was the fifth full-length studio album by U.S. heavy metal band Virgin Steele. It was originally released in 1993 and was the first album with bassist Rob DeMartino, who replaced Joe O’Reilly, retired from the scene.

David DeFeis comments on the re-release: “We will shortly be re-releasing our Life Among The Ruins album. This 2012 version will be in digi-pak form and contain not one…but 2 discs with a large amount of extra ingredients. On the first disc we include 5 rare & unvarnished acoustic recordings, plus a full band bonus track. On disc #2 we have included 20 tracks. These tracks consist of a large amount of newly recorded material completed just this week, as well as alternate mixes of some of the album’s original tracks. And in addition we have also included a never released track from somewhere around that period of time. All the material has been re-mastered, and the package will feature copious liner notes, photos and unique packaging!”

now

Charlie Shred is not a person in the band; not unlike Jethro Tull, it’s the name of the band. Possibly, in some sense, it suggests an idea as the album is rife with ripping neo-classical guitar work from Mattias Johansson. With partner and second principal, Calle Sundberg, on vocals and guitar, both are alumni of ReinXeed. Also, Tommy ‘ReinXeed’ Johansson provides the drums, bgvs, additional guitars and handles the production.

Essentially, this is pure European melodic heavy and power metal, and not unlike ReinXeed. So expect some inherent redundancy, but a charming redundancy at that. Arise, Panic and Game Over certainly fit the status quo. Then, Time To Die and Game Over tip the scales more towards melodic thrash or speed metal. Charlie Shred is best when they are either immensely catchy and melodic as on The Rose or Tainted Inside or simply Epic as on Welcome to Hell. Along with the instrumental, The Ancestor’s Guide, these are likely the best tracks here. Johansson delivers the guitar goods, and Sundberg is quite the melodic metal singer. However, contrary to PR material there are no similarities to James Hetfield there.

Band Burning Point
Info: Finland
Info: The Ignitor
Style: Melodic Power Metal
Years: 2012
Info: Lossless/WavPack (image+.cue, scans)
Rip By: dnoz/FireSnake
Info: 424 Mb