Added on 12/22/2025
NEPA Scene Staff
Doug’s Board Room , Kingston , metal , Olyphant , Wilkes-Barre
From a press release:
Declaring themselves “the heaviest band in Pennsylvania,” The Virgos are ushering in a new age of “true heavy metal.”
In 2017, after 10 years of setting the standard for hardcore and metal with Bad Seed, Harm’s Way, and Nails, vocalist/guitarist Andy Saba met his spiritual sister in sound, vocalist/bassist Danni Crockett (Rosary Guild). A shared love of off-roading, firearms, anti-imperialism, and the discography of Bathory gave root to a philosophy and a purpose. The two found another kindred spirit in drummer Eli Gerrity, who joined their pursuit because he truly just wants to rock.
“We decided it was time to let the apocalyptically loud horses of metal run free again and shine a light on every color of the dark rainbow of metal,” Saba said, utterly sick and tired of all the posers out there.
Channeling thick Sabbathian rhythms, Crowbar’s skull-splitting sludge, Manowar’s majesty, and the hypnotic ass-shaking grooves of Queens of the Stone Age, the Wilkes-Barre power trio unleashed their third and finest full-length album, “Lord Have Mercy,” on Aug. 22, delivering 38 minutes of headbanging fury.
“‘Lord Have Mercy’ is a triumph in multiple heavy musical styles,” Swim into the Sound wrote in a recent review.
“Fans of everything from melodic hardcore to goth rock to stoner metal will be able to find something to love here.”
While familiar to lovers of Heaven and Hell, Into Glory Ride, Type O Negative, Corrosion of Conformity, and Lucio Fulci, the album’s full-throttled blast of psychedelic pyrotechnics and hallucinogenic worship music was recorded by Joe Loftus at JL Studios in Olyphant, then mixed by producer and engineer Taylor Young at The Pit in Los Angeles, sounding unlike anything else coming out of Northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond.
“The theme of ‘Lord Have Mercy’ is that we missed out on the future,” Saba shared.
“Utopia isn’t happening. We’re going backwards now. Superstition, devilry, war, plagues, revolution… it’s the Dark Ages again, so let’s get with the times. Medieval times call for medieval responses. If you want to understand the headspace I was in while writing this album, watch Fulci’s 1983 movie ‘Conquest’ several dozen times. It’s all in there.”
Following a run of singles from 2021-2023, the triumvirate vowed to release a new album every year, starting with 2023’s “Pennsylvania Death Trip.” They kept their promise with a live record, “Road to Noxen,” in 2024, followed by “Lord Have Mercy.”
That record’s heavy, hard, and horny single “Yes,” which has a music video directed by Kyle Barber that just premiered two weeks ago, attracted international record label Season of Mist, who signed the group and re-released their discography on all major streaming platforms ahead of their forthcoming fourth album. Known for being an innovative and wide spectrum label that explores and develops new artists and bands, Season of Mist represents well-known acts such as Heilung, Rotting Christ, and Cryptopsy, as well as rising stars like Eihwar, Sylvaine, and TEMIC.
After opening for Superheaven and White Reaper in Maryland, New Jersey, and New York this month, The Virgos are ready for a hometown gig that will also serve as a “Lord Have Mercy” vinyl release at Doug’s Board Room (310 Market St., Kingston) on Saturday, Dec. 27 at 6 p.m. with Planning for Burial, If Kansas Had Trees, Powers That Be, and 1800bitch. Admission is $10 at the door.
They are also set to headline “A Night of Evil and Speed” at Songbyrd Music House (540 Penn St. NE, Washington, D.C.) on Friday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. with Funeral Dancer, Troncale, and Ninth Realm. Tickets, which are $19.32, are on sale now via DICE. More 2026 dates will be announced soon.
Photo by Kyle Barber
