Cirith Ungol (band)

Cirith Ungol
Origin	Ventura, California, United States
Genres	Heavy metal, doom metal, power metal
Years active	1972–1992, 1996–2001, 2015–present
Labels	Liquid Flame, Metal Blade, Restless
Associated acts	Titanic Falcon
Website	http://www.truemetal.org/cirithungol/

Cirith Ungol is a California heavy metal band formed in 1972.

The group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and is an early epic doom and power metal band.

Their first album, Frost and Fire, contained elements of 1970s hard rock and metal with songs written by bassist and guitarist Greg Lindstrom, but beginning with King of the Dead, they played a progressive rock influenced doom metal with lyrics primarily written by vocalist Tim Baker and drummer Robert Garven, although all band members typically contributed to song composition.

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 band parted with Galligan and reformed in 1972 as Cirith Ungol. They played original, instrumental songs before adding Neal Beattie on vocals.

In 1981, they were signed by Enigma Records and released their first album, Frost and Fire, with Tim Baker on vocals.

The second album, King of the Dead was released in 1984, followed by One Foot in Hell in 1986. They disbanded after their fourth album Paradise Lost, due to frustration with the music business.

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 the Wolf & Rissmiller's Country Club in California.

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Wikipedia