Cirith Ungol

Cirith Ungol Is An American Heavy Metal Band Formed In Late 1971 In Ventura California. The Group Is Known For Lyrics Based On Fantasy Particularly Sword And Sorcery And Is An Early Doom And Power Metal Band. Throughout The 1970s The Band Generally Played A Style Of Heavy Metal Heavily Rooted In Hard And Progressive Rock. The Band's First Studio Album Frost And Fire 1981 Featured A Heavier Sound Generally Regarded As An Early Example Of American Power Metal. By The Band's Second Studio Album King Of The Dead 1984 The Band Had Solidified Their Power Metal Style Of Playing While Gravitating Toward A Much 'darker' Sound With Many Considering The Album Among The First Doom Metal Releases. The Band Took Their Name From The Mountain Pass Cirith Ungol In J. R. R. Tolkien's Epic Fantasy Novel The Lord Of The Rings. The Name Is Elvish And Means "Pass Of The Spider." While The Place In Tolkien's Book Is Pronounced "kirith Ungol " The Band Pronounced It "sirith Ungol. Each Studio Album's Cover Art Is Taken From The Cover Of A DAW Books Edition Of A Book In Michael Moorcock's Elric Of Melniboné Saga The Art Is By Michael Whelan. Greg Lindstrom Robert Garven Jerry Fogle And Pat Galligan Later A Guitarist In Angry Samoans Played In Titanic Their First Band In Junior High School. With A Desire To Play Heavier Music Similar To That Of Mountain And Grand Funk Railroad The Rest Of The Band Parted With Galligan And Founded Cirith Ungol In Late 1971. After Forming In Late 1971 The Band Played Their First Gig On January 1 1972 At An Anti-Vietnam War Peace Rally. In 1980 They Were Signed By Liquid Flames Records And Released Their First Album Frost And Fire With Tim Baker On Vocals And Songs Written By Bassist And Guitarist Greg Lindstrom. Their Second Album King Of The Dead Was Released In On July 2 1984 And Contained Lyrics Primarily Written By Vocalist Tim Baker And Drummer Robert Garven. The Album Was Then Followed By One Foot In Hell On August 12 1986 And Paradise Lost On August 23 1991. They Played Their Last Live Show On December 13 1991 And Disbanded In 1992 Following Frustration With Their Record Label. In 2001 Metal Blade Records Released In Germany Servants Of Chaos A Compilation Album Of Unreleased Demos And Live Songs. With Old Tapes And Assistance From Lindstrom And Garven It Was An Attempt To Give Fans A Wealth Of Archival And Previously Unheard Material Before The Tapes Deteriorated Beyond Retrieval. This Double-CD Was Later Re-Released Worldwide With A Rare 1984 Live DVD Recorded At Wolf & Rissmiller's Country Club In California. Founding Guitarist Jerry Fogle Died From Liver Failure On August 20 1998. The Band Was Reformed By Members Tim Baker Robert Garven Jim Barraza And Greg Lindstrom On October 8 2016 At The 2nd Annual Frost And Fire Festival In Ventura California. Throughout 2017 The Band Had Set Out To Headline And Co-Headline Several European And US Festivals Including Keep It True Germany Up The Hammers Greece Defenders Of The Old US Chaos Descends Germany Psycho Las Vegas US Days Of Darkness US And Hammer Of Doom Germany . In April 2018 Cirith Ungol Performed At The Hell's Heroes Festival In Houston Texas And At The NYDM Spring Bash In Milwaukee Wisconsin. In August 2018 Cirith Ungol Released The Single "Witch's Game". Their Latest Record Forever Black Was Released On April 24 2020. read less