Cirith Ungol is an American heavy metal band formed in late 1971 in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

. This early

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and

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

group is known for lyrics based on

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

(particularly

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...

). The band took their name from the mountain pass

Cirith Ungol In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and ...

in J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel, ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

''. Throughout the 1970s, the band generally played a style of heavy metal heavily rooted in

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and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

. Its first studio album, '' Frost and Fire'' (1981), featured a heavier sound, generally regarded as an early example of American power metal. By its second studio album, '' King of the Dead'' (1984), it had solidified its power metal style while gravitating toward a much "darker" sound, with many considering the album among the first doom metal releases.

History

Titanic

Greg Lindstrom, Robert Garven, Jerry Fogle and Pat Galligan (later a guitarist in

Angry Samoans The Angry Samoans is an American punk rock band from the first wave of American punk, formed in August 1978 in Los Angeles, California, by early 1970s rock writer "Metal" Mike Saunders, his sibling lead guitarist Bonze BlaykBad Trip Records ...

) played in Titanic, their first band in junior high school. With a desire to play heavier music similar to that of

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

and

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, the rest of the band parted with Galligan and founded Cirith Ungol in late 1971.

Early years

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. It was described by some music journalists as 'The Worst Heavy Metal Album of All Time'. 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 ''One Foot in Hell'' is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Cirith Ungol. The original LP was produced by Brian Slagel and Cirith Ungol. It was released in August 1986 on Metal Blade Records and re-released in March 1999 b ...

'' on August 12, 1986 and ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' on August 23, 1991.

Disbandment

They played their last live show on December 13, 1991 and disbanded in 1992 following frustration with their record label.

1992–2016

In 2001,

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

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. Lindstrom now plays with Falcon, who perform some Cirith Ungol songs. Founding guitarist Jerry Fogle died from liver failure on August 20, 1998.

Reunion

The band was reformed by members Tim Baker, Robert Garven, Jim Barraza, and Greg Lindstrom on October 8, 2016, at the second 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". The full-length album Forever Black followed in 2020.

Name

The band took their name from the mountain pass

in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''

''. 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". The band said:

Album cover art

Each studio album's cover art is taken from the cover of a DAW Books edition of a book in

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

Elric of Melniboné Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by English writer Michael Moorcock and the protagonist of a series of sword and sorcery stories taking place on an alternative Earth. The proper name and title of the character is Elric VII ...

saga; the art is by

Michael Whelan Michael Whelan (born 29 June 1950) is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years, he worked as an illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s, he has pursued a fine art career, ...

Members

20180519 Gelsenkirchen RockHard Cirith Ungol 0028 (cropped).jpg, Tim Baker 20180519 Gelsenkirchen RockHard Cirith Ungol 0065.jpg, Jim Barraza 20180519 Gelsenkirchen RockHard Cirith Ungol 0172 (cropped).jpg, Robert Garven 20180519 Gelsenkirchen RockHard Cirith Ungol 0102 (cropped).jpg, Greg Lindstrom 20180519 Gelsenkirchen RockHard Cirith Ungol 0092.jpg, Jarvis Leatherby

Current

* Robert Garven – drums * Greg Lindstrom – guitars , bass guitar * Tim Baker – lead vocals * Jim "Jimmy" Barraza – guitars * Jarvis Leatherby – bass guitar

Former

* Jerry Fogle – guitars * Neal Beattie – lead vocals * Michael "Flint" Vujea – bass guitar * Bob Warrensburg – bass guitar * Vernon Green – bass guitar

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Studio

EP

Live

Compilation

*''Frost and Fire / King of the Dead'' (

One Way One-way or one way may refer to: * One-way traffic, a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction *One-way travel, a trip that does not return to its origin Music *One Way (American ba ...

; 1995, Canada) *'' Servants of Chaos'' (Metal Blade Records; 2001) Box set *''The Legacy'' (Metal Blade Records, 2017)

Mixtapes

*Untitled demo (self-released; 1978)

Singles

*"Witch's Game" (Metal Blade Records; 2018) in the film ''Planet of Doom'' *Brutish Manchild (Metal Blade 2021)

Other appearances

*''

Metal Massacre ''Metal Massacre'' is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on bands such as The Obsessed, Trouble, Overkill, Metal Church, Metallica, Slayer, Virgin Steele, Hellhammer, Voivod, ...

'' (compilation appearance, 1982) *''The Metal Machine'' (compilation appearance, 1984) *''Best of Metal Blade, Vol. 2'' (compilation appearance, 1988) *''Double Whammy'' (compilation appearance, 1999) *''Metal Blade 20th Anniversary'' (compilation appearance, 2002)

Bootlegs

*''Cirith Ungol'' (

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

EP, 1979) *''Live'' (bootleg single, 1996)

Notes

References

External links

The Cirith Ungol WebpitOfficial Falcon website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cirith Ungol Heavy metal musical groups from California American doom metal musical groups American power metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 2016 Restless Records artists Things named after Tolkien works