Saturday, April 21, 2007

Cirith Ungol-king of the dead (1984)

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1. atom smasher
2. black machine
3. master of the pit
4. king of the dead
5. death of the sun
6. finger of scorn
7. toccata in DM
8. cirith ungol

This is one of those records that as a teenager I bought on a whim due to the awesomeness of the artwork alone. I had no Idea what the band sounded like, but I knew I'd have to like it. My friends all hated it, but I think I forced myself to dig it. The band played a heavy style, with synthesizer sounding guitars, and heavy bass lines, totally doomy, and sabbath influenced, with growling vox that didn't always seem to fit the standard for the time.
Cirith Ungol were from L.A. , and formed in 1981. The band took their name from from a tower which played a key role in author J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings book series. The Band took forever to write/record records, as they were plagued with lineup problems from the start. This, "king of the dead" is the bands second release (my favorite). Most fans consider their 1st LP "frost and fire" to be their best material.

http://rapidshare.com/files/27154929/cirith_ungol_king_of_the_dead.zip.html

7 comments:

  1. I like the comment about buying a record by cover alone - Guilty here too...Jag Panzer's Ample Destruction

    Great blog! You have good taste and the descriptions are so good that I'm grabbing a few I never thought I would have

    Keep the Blog rollin'!

    Nick

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  2. A heavel metal classic! I too bought this in 1985 on just the cover alone! Great blog, keep up the great work!

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  3. Brilliant stuff. Beeing a big Black Sabbath fan, I like that doomy, sabbath influenced type of music. Music that you have to listen too and not just have it playing while doing something. I love it.
    Lucas

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  4. For some reason, Black Machine popped into my head at work yesterday and I spent all day singing it to myself, Thanks for letting me hear it properly!

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  5. I read that their first LP was once given 0 points out of 100 by Kerrang magazine!The vocals are unusual,i agree but i believe they are the best US power band.Glad they are recognised over the years.

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  6. Speaking of covers all of them are made by one of the greatest fantasy artists Michael Wheellan.He has painted the cover of Sepultura's Beneath The Remains(entitled Nightmare In Red)too

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  7. It's a fantantisc artwork, I had a lot of time withotut seeing a cover with this quality. it's colorful, with a perfect details and neccessary elements to call people attention.

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