Virgin Steele - The House Of Atreus: Act II (2000)

I've found Virgin Steele increasingly harder to get into, not because they're not good, but from the growing length of their albums. So for this second act of the greek mythology tragedies to reach an hour and a half, I balked a bit. But Mr DeFeis knows how to deliver.
The length is the main drawback, as I have not been able to give it all that many listens. Upon sitting down and listening to it just now, there's certainly good stuff here, like the opening "Wings Of Vengeance" and the rousing conclusion (about eighty minutes later) "Resurrection Day (The Finale)", while "Flames Of Thy Power (From Blood They Rise)" is fine too, but I found myself drifting through some of the smaller noodlings, and longer songs, at times. As with its predecessor, it would also have been better if there were different voices playing the different roles, rather than DeFeis snarl-singing through them all.
I expect this will grow on me with time. For now, I'll have to say that David DeFeis has brought out another album of quality, but pleeeassee cut down the excess a bit.

***1/2