''Visions of Eden'' is the eleventh album by American heavy metal band

Virgin Steele Virgin Steele is an American heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981. The band released a few career highlights albums (''Noble Savage'', '' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I'', '' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II ...

, released on September 8, 2006 via

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

. The album is subtitled ''The Lilith Project - A Barbaric Romantic Movie of the Mind''. It is a concept album based on

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

beliefs, which critically revisits the traditional

Christian mythology Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. The term encompasses a broad variety of legends and narratives, especially those considered sacred narratives. Mythological themes and elements occur throughout Christia ...

about the creation of the Earth and the Biblical accounts of

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

. The story revolves around

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...

, the first wife of Adam and a symbol of female strength and independence. Representing the female side of the true, higher god, she suffers under the lusting, jealous

Demiurge In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term ''demiurge'' ...

who represents the Christian god, and as an emancipated woman who could not get along with the dominant Adam stands in stark contrast to

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

. Adam's second wife is portrayed as a docile, subservient partner created by the demiurge at the request of Adam, who could not cope with an independent woman on equal footing with him. Regarding ''Visions of Eden'', David DeFeis declared: "What it really is, is the soundtrack for a major motion picture that has yet to be made! And by the hammer of Zeus, I will make this film one day. I call this work a Barbaric Romantic movie of the mind.". In 2003, prior to the album release, the concept was performed on the theater stage by Landestheater Schwaben under the name ''Lilith'' (as were the previous Virgin Steele titles ''

The House of Atreus Act I ''The House of Atreus Act I'', released in 1999, is the ninth studio album by the American heavy metal band Virgin Steele. It has the subtitle ''A Barbaric-Romantic Opera''. This album is the first part of a metal opera inspired by the Oresteia ...

'' and '' The House of Atreus Act II''). On 17 February 2017, the album was reissued as a double CD containing a remixed version and a remastered recording of the original mix.

Track listing

All songs written by David DeFeis

Personnel

Band members

* David DeFeis - all vocals, keyboards, orchestration, effects, producer *Edward Pursino - acoustic and electric guitars, bass *Frank Gilchriest - drums

References

2006 albums Virgin Steele albums Concept albums Sanctuary Records albums {{2000s-power-metal-album-stub