In 2003 before signing to Barbarian Wrath for my debut album "The Halo of Burning Wings", Black Goat, the label owner approached me and wondered if I was interested in participating on a Cirith Ungol tribute album mostly made out by bands on the label as far as I know. Being a fan of Cirith Ungol and in particular King of the Dead which was an album that I had begun listening quite a bit to in the year or two before I started Faustcoven, I did not hesitate to take him up on the offer. I was trying to find a song that would translate well into my style, and while King of the Dead, Black Machine or Master of the Pit were obvious doomy candidates, the choice fell on Atomsmasher in the end. Having a more straight forward structure than the others, and a raw charm and energy that I felt I could work with, it was a good choice in retrospect. Then, never having released anything official at that time I wanted to make a rehearsal to see how it worked out, and improve on it for the final release. It turned out quite well I thought, although I wanted to get a bit more work done on the solo guitars and the drum programming. One interesting thing I did, which I guess is unusual for cover songs, was to combine two of the original riffs and slow them down, to make a new doomy midsection, intended as a sort of funeral march in honor of Cirith Ungol, and being based on Cirith Ungol riffs it is a pretty cool section. However the tribute release never happened, so I continued to focus on my own music, and put this recording into a shelf until the demo anthology was released in 2009, where I thought it would make a good bonus track. It's rough around the edges and not something which I could honestly call a worthy tribute for the godly Cirith Ungol, but it has its charm and deserved to be heard as a part of the early Faustcoven history.

So where is this tribute album (not be confused with One Foot In Fire, which was released on Solemnity Music in 2006) Gunnar talked about? What happened to the project? Was any of the other recordings ever released or even recorded? I contacted Barbarian Wrath to get more information about this unreleased Cirith Ungol tribute album. Here is what he had to say about the project: there were a few other songs "taken" by bands but FAUSTCOVEN, to my best knowledge anyways were the only ones to actually record a cover. Like many good ideas is just faded away with time.

goood job! especially the Summoning the Apocalypse!!

• LP: 2009 (BlindDate Records;) [185g black vinyl, x400]
• LP: 2009 (BlindDate Records;) [190g white vinyl & deluxe silkscreen wooden box, x300]

Available at Blind Date Records.

A short interview with guitarist/vocalist Isamu Sato of H.C. Minds:

wooow！useful information!

Bootleg live album

"A simply fantastic item containing a über rare recording with the band from the Country Club, Resada 14/10/1983, which according to

many was at their absolute musical peak! Sound quality is enjoyable and the tracklist is simply fantastic! The recording is from the gap between Frost & Fire and King Of The Dead, so the band plays some of their most treasured songs from their earliest era. The set is just fantastic and Tims vocals are nothing but killer! This one is a absolute must for Cirith Ungol fans or anyone into early US heavy metal!"

I just got this from eBay. It is a bootleg album recorded live at the Country Club, Resada, 14 Oct 1983. The sound quality is decent and there's a pause of silence between each track. The booklet has some liner notes written by The Battle Axe Team. It is stated that it is a "Fan produced bootlegg recording 1983". The CD is as expected a CD-R, like all other bootlegs by Battle Axe. Fans who read the tracklist will get excited to find out about a song listed as "Bastard". This song is sadly just Master of the Pit. I don't know why they chose to call it Bastard, either it was actually called Bastard before it was renamed to Master of the Pit on the album, or they called it to draw attention and sell more CD's. Either way it really sounds like Tim could be saying "this song is called... Bastard" at the beginning of the song, but I'm unable to hear it properly. This CD is not a must, but a nice item for die-hard fans. Best version after one spin: I'm Alive.

Mini LP with a Cirith Ungol cover

• LP: 24 Apr 2010 (Iron on Iron Records) [ltd. x500]

Tracklist

1. Antarctic Dream
2. Double Dragon
3. Young Blood
4. Go It Alone (live)

12" LP; ? [x100]

"1983 LIVE Arlington Theatre in California".

1. I'm Alive
2. Atom Smasher
3. Master of the Pit
4. King of the Dead
5. Cirith Ungol

The band members need to jump on this ASAP. Even if it's something like a fan funded official live release. They must have some soundboards tapes that would be worth releasing themselves for the fans, that way they beat the bootleggers at their own game. I know I would be glad to pay between $15.00 & $25.00 for an official bootleggs series from the band themselves. Many bands have gone the route of asking the fans to pay up front to cover the production of the Cd's themselves. Just a thought. I'd love to have copies of these boots but I will not pay some dirt bag making money off of a band that could use the money for THEIR art. Oh yeah and limited to 100 copies my ass! How many editions of 100 copies will they end up pressing in the long run? The band members are the only ones who have the right to sell their recordings. Bootlegs should be traded for free or not at all!!!!!

Raw audience recording from the masters of doom and gloom - limited to only 100 handnumbered copies on yellow vinyl!

Tracklist:

1. Atom Smasher
2. Black Machine
3. Master of the Pit
4. King of the Dead
5. Death of the Sun
6. I'm Alive

  CD: 25 Jul 2011 (Blood And Iron Records; Iron 009)
    Falcon: Leader (remixed version)

Tracklist:
BLOOD OF THE SUN "Sunrise" / DOOMRAISER "Dune Messiah" / MOS GENERATOR "Stay with me" / OGRE "The Prophet" / AMON RA "Freedom" / FALCON "Leader" / GLOW "Till my Death" / ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVELL "Bean Stew" / IRON HEARSE "Suzie Sunshine" / JOSIAH "Dead Forever" / DAWNRIDER "Shylock".

What was a frozen plan that lasted at least two years, comes out now finally! Aborted by many reasons and put to rest through a long hiatus, it's now time to present the much deserved Buffalo tribute with 12 great international Heavy Rock/Doom acts from the U.S. to Portugal and Spain, with Germany, UK and Italy in between. These are mostly unreleased songs presented on CD, to celebrate the greatness (and heaviness) of Australia's premier Doom Rock & Rollers! Approved by Mr. Dave Tice himself (who left some nice comments in a few versions he'd heard), with 16 page booklet and sleeve art done by Rod Wolf from Midnight Priest, this is a release not to be missed for all who give a damn to 70's Heavy Rock! Clearly Blood & Iron is doing it. Many didn't believed and some also forgot, but good news on the horizon: The job is done!  

Website / MySpace

This record has been delayed for several years! It was recently scheduled for 01 Jun 2011, but upon contacting the label, I was told it will be not be out before 25 Jul 2011. I won't believe it until I see it.

1. Atom Smasher
2. I'm Alive
3. Black Machine
4. Master of the Pit
5. King of the Dead
6. Death of the Sun
7. Finger of Scorn
8. Cirith Ungol

100 M.P.H. is as uplifting as the title proclaims though the chorus is a bit silly, and overall the song seems like the band's attempting speed metal which is not their forte!

Lyrics

Call it heavy metal comes on hard and fast
We're the men who play it we're here to kick your ass

Chorus:
Coming like a hurricane a hundred miles an hour
We don't stop for nothing cause we've got the power

Our nerves are made of steel and there's ice in our veins
We're frost and we're fire we're pleasure and we're pain

Chorus

Call it heavy metal comes on hard and fast
We're the men who play it we're here to kick your ass

No doubt my least favourite of this album. Still a good song though.

The most commercial song on this album but I think it's well placed between lots of heavy stuff.  It's a solid fast rockin tune and I like it a lot.

(Sept 80) I think this version has got more energy than the one on 'One Foot In Hell', but maybe I'm biased ...

Lyrics

Lying awake in the dead of night
Listening to my heart beat away
Wishing I wasn't alone here tonight
But wishing just gets in the way

I just want, I just want a little fire [2x]

The night's so cold when you're all alone
At least it's always been cold to me
And the clock ticks away, ticks away, ticks away
And the clock settles in around me

I just want, I just want a little fire [2x]
Fire

You might be wondering just how it feels
Well I hope you never know
'Cause I know exactly how it feels
It's all I ever know

I just want, I just want a litte fire [4x]
Fire, fire

 

Written by Greg Lindstrom

Californian cult metal legends CIRITH UNGOL will release their new live album, "A Little Fire - Live" in December 2010 via Liquid Flame Records. The first live album ever by these metal veterans, will have the classic line-up from Frost and Fire, that is Baker, Lindstrom, Fogle, Flint and Garven. All tracks were recorded between 1979 and '82. As a bonus, it will have two additional, previously unreleased tracks taken from the recording sessions for the unfinished, fifth album. The cover artwork was created by Michael Whelan for the Elric novels.

Don't hold your breathe, this was of course just a 1st April joke!

it seems very coool!

I just want, I just want a little fire!

if this is not a 1st of April joke, it is the best news since the invention of the delay effect

Good God, here is my cash.  Take it, take it quick.

Greatest musical news I have heard  in  the last  decade--right up there with Maiden and Priest  reforming  with their  greates singers. Hail to the Master's of the Pit!

Well said Mark. This was of course just a 1st of April hoax  

If this WAS an April fools joke, I am going to slam my head into a wall and castrate myself with a #2 pencil...

• Sacred Metal
• Revolver
• Captain Beyond ~ Zen
• Metal Holocaust
• Cry-Metal

I wish Rob Garven and Tim Baker would play again, but the sad reality is it's probably never going to happen. I kept trying to tell people that the longer they waited to book Falcon in Europe, the lesser the chance that even Greg Lindstrom could make it. I don't think many listened. Jürgen from Hellion/HOA was the only one to step up to the plate and offer to put Falcon on a festival. Provided he fulfills his end of the bargain, we're meant to do HOA 2010. A Falcon set at the warm-up gig and mostly Cirith Ungol classics at HOA itself. But, make no mistakes, the lineup is Falcon. As in Perry Grayson, Greg Lindstrom and Darin McCloskey. If Jürgen wants to advertise it as "Greg Lindstrom & Friends" that's fine by me/us. It's his festival.

Nothing's confirmed until the flights are booked and paid for. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Nothing's confirmed until you hear it straight from the horse's mouth. This is meant to be exclusive to HOA, so it's entirely dependent on Jürgen and company following through with their offer. We don't play for free, and there are a lot of expenses involved. As we'll be playing CU material, we will have to rehearse more than usual. Which is complicated because we all live in different places.

While I'm sure even Greg would rather it be only Falcon material, this is the only offer that's come up. We know Falcon is perfectly capable of standing on its own. But many of these European festivals are reunion and tribute crazy. They're unwilling to merely book the current band of a cult metal hero like Greg Lindstrom. Given the opportunity, we do with a power trio what most bands need five members to accomplish. The proof is in the pudding. Three dudes who don't need to prove themselves at this stage! Look at our bloody histories, damn it!!

It has come to our attention that the Headbanger's Open Air Festival has been advertising a confirmed appearance by "Greg Lindstrom and Friends" on their 2010 bill and Falcon on the HOA Warm-Up gig. This is not true. While the HOA fest did contact us and discuss the possibility of Falcon (Greg Lindstrom, Perry Grayson and Darin McCloskey) playing a set of Cirith Ungol classics at the fest itself and a full Falcon set at the Warm-Up gig, no contracts were ever signed and no flights were booked. No offense to the HOA organizers, but these arrangements were never confirmed. HOA tickets were, however, sold under the pretense that "Greg Lindstrom and Friends" would be performing. In the music business agreements are made in writing via contracts. Until the paper is signed by both parties nothing is confirmed. I am always on top of posting news on our various sites and making press releases. If any gig or event is ever confirmed the news gets posted quickly. You'll all notice that there was never an announcement made by me or any of the other Falcon members regarding HOA 2010. That is because there was no confirmation. It is best not to count your chickens before they hatch. Read: "don't get ahead of yourselves." We regret that Cirith Ungol and Falcon fans were in any way misled, but that is out of our control. Thanks for understanding!

Best Heavy Rawkin' Wishes for 2010 and Beyond

can't say that I was opposed to the release of 'servants' just was never contacted before it came out if my memory is correct..as far as vocals go i still play rock band with the kids..ha..ha         Tim B.

Any kind of new music by these guys would be welcome by me.  I rather dislike the metal without melody that's been passed around since 1990.  I'm old school but probably younger than old Sabbath or BOC fans.

Cirith Ungol is my all time favorite band and I'm not just saying that because I love Moorcock.  The creativity and originality of their work is second to none in my opinion.

Kevin Gibbs

Well, the closest option I have to seeing them live is to make small figurines of Cirith Ungol playing on a small stage, blast their music loudly and do some peyote.

I would give all the money I have to see CU unite and play live here in Omaha. Been a fan for years and I've had my two Cirith Ungol pins on my patch jacket ever since Greg sent them to me with the shirt I ordered. Best band ever, inspired by all the books I grew up on.

A lucky fan had the opportunity to have a day with some of the remaining members of Cirith Ungol last sunday. This event was of course photo documented.

From left to right: Matt, Tim, Callae, Rob and Jim. Click on the picture to zoom!

We are all in garvens front yard on Sunday, oct 10. They were basically signing my vinyl and shooting the shit. I guess the 3 of them haven't hung out together in 19 years! Wow!

Thanks to Callae Goltz for wanting to share these photos!

Want to see more? Click here for more photos from the event.

Pretty cool.  

Thanks for sharing - haven't seen Tim in years - He looks great!!!  

before it was  http://truemetal.org/cirithungol/page.php?page_id=165&section_id=319

CDandLP / CD Universe / eBay / NoRemorse / Sonic Age Records

Read more at Andrew Sample | post 755

Bandinfo

Origin: Italy

Formed in: 2004

MySpace 

Cirith Ungol, long ago, showed me the way of music I love: to tribute them is a duty and honour, and Black Machine is the song that suits my guitar playing the best. Besides, everyone today is riding the black machine of decadence...

-Guido, linernotes

One of the songs that synthesizers better the essence of Cirith Ungol's style. A place of psych-epic history.

-Marco, linernotes

Women look like the Black Machine ....fill your head with evil dreams...

-Daniele, linernotes

My only complaint is that we were too young by the time we recorded this version. The whole demo was recorded in less than 20 hours, the sound sucks pretty bad, and I personally think I was not skilled enough when doin' that. But it's still awesome to be part of the first CU tribute ever made!

This was written already in the 70's.

"Atom Smasher" gets the ball rolling with sheer power, only ever letting up for guitarist Jerry Fogle to introduce yet another dark musical passage into the "smasher's" world.

Lyrics

Welcome to the brave new world
The Future's here, or haven't you heard?
The sons of man have fell from grace
Till the Smasher comes to save his race

Here it comes, there it goes
Just a flash in the sky
Atom smasher, here he comes
Better run for your lives

He is the hero of the atom age
Born in a test tube raised in a cage
A reaver King his throne defiled
Roaming the streets to the call of the wild

As upstarts strive to rule the world
Against them Chaos legions hurled
The Smashers force has swept the land
Again begins the Dawn of Man

Four of these next tracks were from a show at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, California (04-05-85) about 30 minutes from Ventura where we all lived. We opened up for the Japanese band Loudness. These were never meant to be reproduced, and were made straight off the board onto cassette. I think they came out great. Jerry is gone now, but he was one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived. Long Live Jerry Fogle!

A band with Vern Green. More info needed!

this is a humble, raw yet heartfelt tribute to my favorite band.

It's an instrumental medley of many great Ungol songs. All instruments played & recorded by me. All credit goes of course to Cirith Ungol, the real masters of dark, epic and magic heavy metal.

Dedicated to the memory of Jerry Fogle, one of the greatest guitarists ever lived. LONG LIVE THE TOWER OF FIRE.

THIS IS AWESOME!

FUCK YEAH!

I almost forgot myself and thought i was listening to Jerry sometimes there...!

BallBuster homepage Interview

Cirith Ungol

by Jym Harris

1. So Greg, let's start at the beginning. Cirith Ungol was formed in the 70's but didn't get signed until the early 80's, right? What do you remember about the early days?

GREG: Rob Garven and I first met in English class in 7th grade in 1969, and we found we had common interests in Ferraris and The Lord Of The Rings. A couple of years later in 1971, another guy in our school named Pat Galligan (later a member of the punk band The Angry Samoans) wanted to form a band called Titanic with Jerry Fogle to mostly play Beatles’ songs. For some reason they got Rob in to play drums (even though he didn’t have any drums and didn't know how to play), and Rob called me because I had an amplifier. In the very beginning, there were three of us playing guitar through one amplifier and Rob with just a snare drum and hi hat! Well, I’ve never been a big Beatles fan, so I was pushing us to play heavier stuff like Cream and Grand Funk. Pat wasn’t into that, so Jerry, Rob and I quit Titanic in 1972 and formed Cirith Ungol. Almost immediately we started doing some originals (Radiation Blues, Flesh Dart) along with our versions of songs by Sabbath, Budgie, Spontaneous Combustion, etc. Mountain was really a big early influence on all of us, in the way they would do extended jams. It wasn't until 1975 that Neil Beattie (aka Terry Dactyl) became our lead singer. He was a little more glam inspired than the rest of us, but he put on a really wild live show, with black widow spider fingertip extensions to go along with our six foot wide black widow spider for "Shelob's Lair". Even though he was a great performer, Neil’s voice didn’t quite fit in with our vision, and we parted ways after about a year. We spent the next couple of years writing a lot of songs and playing all the LA clubs as an instrumental power trio, playing with bands like Quiet Riot (w/Randy Rhoades), Y & T, and Van Halen, and going over amazingly well. We tried out a number of singers, but nobody clicked until 1979, when Tim Baker, who was our head roadie at the time, tried singing lead on "Hype Performance". That version is the first song on "Servants Of Chaos".

2. Was there any discussion about the subject matter; what the identity of the band would represent?

GREG: I remember some other possible band names we were considering: Minas Tirith, Khazad Dum, and Uruk Hai, all names from "The Lord Of The Rings". Rob and I both liked J.R.R. Tolkien and Enzo Ferrari, so we knew our songs would cover both those subjects!

3. What about inspiration & influences? After what bands did Cirith Ungol pattern itself?

GREG: Cream was our biggest influence when we were starting out, but all the great early seventies bands were inspirations: of course, the "big three" Black Sabbth, Deep Purple, and Uriah Heep, but also Blue Cheer, Budgie, Hard Stuff, Stray, Trapeze, Highway Robbery, Head Over Heels, Bang, Dust, Sir Lord Baltimore, Cactus, Bloodrock, etc. We used to make the 50 mile trek from Ventura to L.A. every couple of weeks to go to a store called Moby Disc to find the latest imports. Dana Madore, the import manager there, would always have some new heavy rock discovery to show us. Rob and I almost came to blows on several occasions over who was gonna be first to take it home! I'm old enough to have seen a lot of cool bands in their prime. Some of my most vivid memories are of Iggy and The Stooges at the Whiskey in 1973, Rush and Moxy on their first West Coast tour in front of 50 people at the Whiskey in '75, Stray Dog and Masters Of The Airwaves at the Starwood in '74. My first "real" concert was Captain Beyond, Gentle Giant, and Black Sabbath at the Hollywood Bowl in 1972. Gentle Giant got booed off stage after two songs, Geezer Butler's bass notes were like a punch in the stomach, and tragically, I remember almost nothing about my favorite band Captain Beyond.

4. What's up with the band's connection to the Michael Moorcock novels? Whose Idea was that?

GREG: I was a pretty voracious reader of fantasy and science fiction and along with "The Dying Earth" by Jack Vance and the "Fafhrd And The Grey Mouser" series by Fritz Leiber, Moorcock's Elric series is one of my favorites. Along with Clark Ashton Smith, they were all big influences on my lyrics. The obvious connection is the series of amazing covers that Michael Whelan did for the DAW paperback series of Elric novels in the seventies. Rob got in contact with Michael and he graciously agreed to allow us to use his artwork for a very nominal fee. I know the covers helped to sell the albums. In fact, I know several people who didn't really like our music but bought the LPs anyway because of the cover art!

5. Playing Metal in Southern California, how important was the band image? Did you guys ever consider conforming to the 'fashion rock' ?

GREG: If you would have seen Cirith Ungol live in 1979 - 80 there is a very likely chance that would have seen Tim Baker and myself wearing skinny ties! In CU we always thought that a band should dress up a little more than jeans and t-shirts but we stopped short at wearing makeup and fishnet stockings. Now in Falcon I pretty much wear jeans and t-shirts.

6. After the debut "Frost & Fire", what point did you actually leave the band and for what reasons?

GREG: I left in late 1982, because I felt I had reached a turning point in my life after graduating college, getting a “real” job in aerospace engineering, and spending 11 years in the band. It was more than a year after F & F had been released, and album sales were good, but I was somewhat disheartened by the number of negative reviews we were getting. We were still playing mostly clubs, and our career wasn’t advancing as quickly as I had hoped. I guess I wanted to lead a “normal” life for a change.

7. Did you stick around as songwriter for "King Of the Dead" or did the band just use your lyrics?

GREG: "Atom Smasher", "Cirith Ungol", and "Death Of The Sun" were all songs we had written together in the mid 70's, and "Finger Of Scorn" was one of my songs that the band used with my blessing.

8. What were you up to between Cirith Ungol & Falcon?

GREG: I concentrated on my career as an aerospace engineer, raced bikes, and got married, but I never stopped playing guitar or writing songs. Every once in a while over the years I would play some crazy solo guitar stuff at parties or play karaoke style along to my favourite tunes, but I guess I first started to get the itch again a few years ago when Rob Garven and I went through all our old CU tapes to compile the SERVANTS OF CHAOS CD. I began to realize we had written a lot of pretty cool songs back in the mid to late 70’s that never saw the light of day and I figured they needed to be heard again, at least by me! I’m just lucky to find such sympathetic musical partners in Perry, Darin, and Andrew.

9. What ever happened to the other band members? Do you guys keep in touch?

GREG: I'm still good friends with Rob and see him quite often. We're still trying to get him to sit in drums sometime with Falcon, although he hasn't touched a drumstick in ten years. Of course, Jerry died in 1998 of liver failure. Such a loss af a great talent. Flint lives in Las Vegas and works as a sound engineer at one of the major casinos, and last I heard, Tim was in Lake Tahoe. Tim and Flint have really shown no interest in CU at all. Tim's son Matt is much more into CU history than his dad is.

10. I got a double CD set of early material a while back called "Servants Of Chaos". How did that come about?

GREG: Fans had been asking for years about unreleased live and studio songs, so a few years ago Rob and I got to talking about the stacks of unreleased songs we had laying around, and we decided that at least some of it was good enough to be released. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the finished product. The sound quality isn’t always the greatest, but Brad Vance at DNA did a great job of saving and cleaning up our old tapes, some of which were 25 years old. The fan reaction has been great, and everyone seems to have a different favorite song. We keep getting asked when Volume 2 will come out, and there is still some more material we haven't unearthed yet.

11. For those who haven't heard Falcon, are there any strong similarites or differences to Cirith Ungol?

GREG: Obviously, since there are four old Cirith Ungol songs on the first Falcon CD, there will be some pretty strong similarites to CU. Overall, I'd say that Falcon is a little bit less intense than CU, and some of our songs have a little more of a groove than CU. If you're a fan of early seventies heavy rock like Budgie, Bang, Dust, etc., you're gonna like Falcon. But let me introduce the rest of the band:

Guitarist/singer/songwriter Perry Grayson was in Destiny’s End from ’97 until ’03, playing on their two Metal Blade albums “Breathe Deep the Dark” and “Transition”. Quite a different band from Falcon. Very technical power metal, verging on progressive at times. After Perry left DE he formed another technical metal band called Artisan with friends Mike Bear (bass/vocals) and Ana Greco (guitar/backing vox). Eventually he started to burn out on playing such super fast stuff, and yearning to get back to a more earthier/bluesier style, he left Artisan in Fall ’03 after playing a farewell gig opening for Cathedral, Strapping Young Lad and Samael.

Darin McCloskey is the drummer, lyricist, and driving force behind the well-respected Pennsylvania doomsters Pale Divine. Which is very admirable for a drummer. Not too many drummers get that involved in the songwriting process, etc. Darin does!

12. Are you satisfied with the 'cult following' you've earned? How important is commercial success to you at this point?

GREG: I'm really amazed and honored that CU has so many loyal fans. It took 30 years, but after all the naysayers and negative reviews, it's really gratifying to see that our music has gained some respect and a place in metal history. I get so many emails from fans and fellow musicians telling me how much CU music has meant to them.

I never counted on being able to make a living as a musician, which is why I went to college to earn an engineering degree. I didn't want to end up as a 40 year old burnout working in a guitar store and playing requests at weddings. Having our own record label and handling every facet of the CD production from artwork to distribution can be a hassle at times, but we know where every penny goes, and we know that every decision made will be in our best interest. The downside of not being with a big label is lack of wide scale distribution, but I can tell you that we've made as much money selling 2500 copies of the Falcon CD ourselves as we made from royalties on 25,000 copies of the "Frost And Fire" LP.

13. What are the future plans of Falcon?

GREG: We just finished up some demos of a few new songs that will be on our next album tentatively titled "Die Wontcha" ( a play on the West, Bruce, & Laing album "Why Dontcha"). We also recorded a new version of CU's "Edge Of A Knife" and "Johanna" by Iggy & The Stooges that will probably end up as a compilation track sometime in the future. We plan to record our second album with Chris Kozlowski at the helm again in October 2006, for release in early 2007.

14. At some point do you think there will be a Cirith Ungol reunion?

GREG: Never say never, but I am 99.99% certain there will not be a CU reunion. Even though Rob (Garven) and I are still great friends, he’s become very bitter about the whole business side of music making, and he hasn’t touched a drumstick in 10 years. His Ferrari 308GT4 is his passion now! And Tim (Baker) and Flint have shown no interest, either, and I have doubts about Tim’s voice holding up after 30 years of smoking. So I think it’s best for CU to rest in peace. It’s kind of a shame, since we get offers every year to reform CU and play at some of the big metal festivals in Europe. But as far as I am concerned, all my musical effort is going into FALCON, and I’m totally happy with our musical direction. With everything else going on in my life, I don’t have the time, energy, or the incentive to try and resurrect CU.

15. Any final comments? Websites to plug, etc.?

GREG: Thanks again to all you CU and Falcon fans for the incredible support! I hope to meet all of you someday. In the meantime, check out www.falconband.net, www.myspace.com/falconband, and http://www.myspace.com/cirithungol. Keep on rockin'!

THANKS TO GREG FOR THIS KILLER INTERVIEW! BALLBUSTER SALUTES YOU!

Bandinfo

Origin: Italy

Formed in: 2001

Website / MySpace

As you know we play lots of coversongs from the epic metal bands of
the past as Medieval Steel, Omen, Fifth Angel we wanted to play a Cirth
Ungol song too but we recorded it cause a guy called Leatherknight, the
chief of the official CU fan club wanted to make a tribute album and
asked us to play one song, I chose Join The legion cause is one of my
favourite but also cause the lyrics are so.. true and is great to play it live !!
We knew that the vocals of Tim Baker are impossible to imitate but Daniele
made his best; we also wanted to pay the tribute to one of the greatest
bands of the music history.

Lyrics

In Hell s corrupt and sunken halls the rising shall begin,
The bane of man immortal - the parade of broken dead.
With greed our worldly master, so now pain will be our guide,
As the fallen ones await us all to welter by their page.

Iron dreams of human jackals and our final fate is cast -
To slave in endless fire as you cringe before the lash.
Blinded by the darkness, as you pray for his return.
But in your soul you fear he s just another one who'll burn.

With greed our worldly master, now pain will be our guide,
As the fallen ones await us all to welter by their page.
Iron dreams of human jackals - our final fate is cast,
To slave in endless fire, as you cringe before the lash.

Does evil lie in waiting to extract his heavy toll.
Will bowing to the pulpit bring the cloven to their goal,
But if he s the work of mankind, and the beast our morbid dream,
This dying planet is our heaven, and our hell remains the same.

The last selection that was on our 4th album. Jimmy did some amazing guitar work on all of these. Remember we did not have any of the fancy digital or even mini studio system around today. If we would have these would have been killer!

Oh, there was a movie called "Better Off Dead" which also came out after the album.

I'm tired of beeing the odd man out
I speak with a whisper and feel with a shout
I feel out of tune, I feel out of key
I feel like I'm missing a part of me

I've got a lot on my head
And my condition's read
I think I'm better off dead
Sometimes

Some people say that lightning never strikes twice
But I've been hit more than once in my life
I've been taken in so many times
A thousand promises, a thousand lies

I've got a lot on my head
And my condition's read
I think I'm better off dead
Sometimes, sometimes

Sometimes I take a look at the world
And sometimes I take a look at the girls
I'm just a spectator, I don't get involved
I've got too many problems of my own to solve

I've got a lot on my head
And my condition's read
I think I'm better off dead
Sometimes
I've got a lot on my head
And my condition's read
I think I'm better off dead
Sometimes, sometimes

(Dec 79) I heard an Offspring song the other day on the radio that started off with exactly the same drum beat and bass. Incredible coincidence? Not a whole lot different from the F & F version, but it's got a great solo from Jerry, and I like Tim's rising shriek at the end.

(July 78) The oldest (and crudest) recording on here, but the song is cool, (if I do say so myself) with a nice solo from JF. Yours truly on 'vocals'. This song needs to be redone ...

Description:

Just in time for these chilly fall nights, these are heavy high quality 50/50 Gildan hoodie sweatshirts in black with the praying skeleton logos in white ink, large image on the front, with a small logos on the sleeves. This auction is for a mens size large (L) long sleeve. I also have medium and extra large sizes, just let me know. I am an original member of CIRITH UNGOL, these are official shirts. I always include extra CU goodies with your order! USPS Priority shipping is $5.00. Use that old Metallica shirt of yours to wax the car and Join the Legion!

Availability:

Greg Lindstrom @ eBay

Can you make 2-3XLT sizes?

I don't know how often he reads here, so I recommend you to ask him on eBay. Link above, or you probably alternatively ask him by too by sending him an email at Falcon.

My cousin wants one of these hoodies, but it seems they're sold out.. Is there any way that they might be more soon? Medium or large?

I want one (L).

The eerie follower "Black Machine" tells of things we all fantasize of, yet there's a big price, your soul!

Sleazegrinder: Have you ever ridden the black machine?

Robert Garven: Personally, no. I tried to climb aboard but was thrown off. However I drive a red machine on weekends. My other dream was to get a Ferrari. After the band broke up and I paid off all the bills I got married bought a garage with a small house attached, and realized my dream. Weekends find me in the garage listening to bands like ASKA, Fireball Ministry or Riot, taking apart my carburetors (it has 8), or taking something apart. Since my dream of music has died, this is my passion now, and it runs deep, very deep.

Climb aboard the Black Machine
Fills your head with evil dreams
Fills your head with thoughts of fire
A quick escape your one desire

Ride The Black Machine

Pearly whites behind back dawn lips
Ride with the Masters of the Pit
Snapping jaws of the dogs of doom
Kick your way from this stagnant tomb

Ride the Black Machine

Climb aboard the Black Machine
To that place you've never been
The Black Machine will take you higher
Your burning souls our one desire

The blac machine is definetely a dragon custom made 2 wheels ride!!!

Opener "Blood And Iron" instantly showed the band ith a more traditional heavy metal approach (and production). with an arrangement not far off from the "traditional" metal style of an Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. Surely not a bad tune but severely primitive and somewhat "happy" for a band as musically dark and challenging as Cirith Ungol can be.

Lyrics

The tangled web is slowly woven by feeble leaders mankind's chosen
To satisfy their evil dreams the churning gears of war machines

With iron will they tread across this burning speck of worthless dust
Their metal standards now unfurled they purge the humans from their world

Children of misery centuries long who walked with kings now walk alone
They lie in fear a million deep like cringing herds of human sheep

Members

• "Mighty" Gomez: Guitars
• "Blue" Green: Bass
• Matt Thrift: Drums
• Jay Alred: Lead Vocals

Website

The band is writing music for their next full length CD and hope to have it available at the beginning of 2009.

• metal negro@eBay

my straightforward heavy rocker about being in the music biz

Lyrics

Slide Solo - Perry

From this tower I can see it all
Past, present, future in chaos
Many years ago I climbed this slope
I was young, down, in need of hope
A rite of passage to manhood
The truth written in alcove stone
Friends stry and turn their backs
I found my calling on that ledge
Visions of a deep blue sky
The roar of guitars in my mind

Chorus:
Natives planted their feet here
I find my dreams when I am near
It might seem bleak, but it's real
Castle Peak, the summit heals

It's a long journey down
Some slip, some fall, lose it all
I returned to blaze that trail
Striving to reach new heights

Chorus
Solo - Perry

In moonlight its shadow looms
Sentinel for the valley below

Seasons pass and trials true
The tower stands by the moon
Find the time to ride the wind
And scale the cliff to destiny

Chorus

"Chaos Descends" is definitively a throwback to the horror soundscape that fits the band so well and is without doubt a stand out song in the album. This type of song is where their strength is!

Lyrics

The might of chaos descends as we join the fight
Against our common foe the jaws of fate
War unleashed the stench of spells
As we thrust our fists into the face of hell

Chaos descends

The final battle begins left or right who decides?
Their mortal terror touches the sky
The beasts of hell blacken heaven's eye
We shout our fear to a soulless sky

Chaos descends

Ashes to ashes war sweeps the land
Burn the world the curse of man
No one heeds the call judgement day
Their iron dream swept away

The Chaos Trilogy is some of the best stuff CU has done, I think, but it’s also a little bit more generic, Iron Maiden-ish sounding.

Lyrics

The doomed one s fallen armies sound the tolling of the bell,
While sin and death stand silent guard outpage the Gates of Hell.
He slowly spreads his leather wings and soars above the land,
He strokes his pointed beard and casts an evil eye toward man.

Unchains the dogs of chaos to complete his evil chore
To make the cringing herd of man his thralls by right of war.
They gorge on fatal fruit, taste of dust and bitter ash,
While fire burns in Heaven and immortal forces clash.

The smell of burning brimstone - lightning flung from golden hands.
To rule without a master is the only dream of man.
As they swap our souls among them and prepare the final feast,
Begin the war eternal - cast apage both God and Beast.

Moving toward the evil song that fate will sadly sing,
How the pride of man has fallen, crowning lust their only king.
Heaven screams in anguish and the world cries out in pain,
Unleash the final terror - man begins his now doomed reign.

These next five songs were off our practice tapes for 'Paradise Lost'. The only time we ever had a lawyer was on this album and we unknowingly signed away the rights to the album forever to Restless Records! For some reason they will not release it or license it so this may be the closest many will get to hear it!

Have a heavy christmas!

Christmas Ungol picture taken from The Perverted Old Goatess.

General

Cirith Ungol was a Californian heavy metal band who formed in 1972 and split up in May 1992. They drew influences from other metal groups such as Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, as well as Iggy and the Stooges. Their first album, Frost and Fire, was closer to a hybrid between 1970s hard rock and metal with songs written by then bassist and guitarist Greg Lindstrom and drummer Robert Garven, but from King of the Dead and onwards they played a progressive rock influenced brand of doom metal with songs primarily written by vocalist Tim Baker.

History

The band began with Greg Lindstrom, Robert Garven, Jerry Fogle and Pat Galligan (who would later go on to play guitar for Angry Samoans) playing in their first band "Titanic" in high school. With a desire to play heavier music, the rest of the band dumped Pat and reformed in 1972 as Cirith Ungol with Neal Beattie on vocals. It wasn't until 1980 that they were signed by Enigma and released their first record Frost and Fire with Tim Baker on vocals. After their fourth album Paradise Lost, they split up due to frustration caused by problems with their new record company. The year 2001 saw the light of a new Cirith Ungol album which contained old and unreleased demos and songs, but no new material. The album was supported by both Greg and Rob, but not by Tim.

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

The name

They took their name from the place Cirith Ungol in J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The name Cirith Ungol 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 in a later interview they had some problems with the name:

Everyone in the band was a big "Sword and Sorcery" literature fan, especially Greg [Lindstrom, guitars] and I. He would always turn us on to the great writers who gave us inspiration for our music. We read all the books... Conan, Bran Mak Morn, etcetera, but the books that stood out in my mind are Michael Moorcock's masterpieces: Elric, Hawkmoon, Corum among others. Greg Lindstrom and I met at an English Literature class where the teacher was reading Lord of the Rings... and Greg and I read it and it had an influence on our music and feelings. In retrospect I wish we had picked something easier to remember because a lot of our trouble has been over our name. People couldn't pronounce it or remember it, but we figured once they did they wouldn't forget it! We've humorously been called "Sarah's Uncle" and "Serious Uncool," for example! I know other bands are using the Tolkien angle. Led Zeppelin even made references to it in their earlier songs. I think he was an influence both then and now on many people.

-Robert Garven

I remember some other possible band names we were conpagering: Minas Tirith, Khazad Dum, and Uruk Hai, all names from "The Lord Of The Rings". Rob and I both liked J.R.R. Tolkien and Enzo Ferrari, so we knew our songs would cover both those subjects!

-Greg Lindstrom

...But it's the album closer and band theme song "Cirith Ungol" that really needs to be heard. "Try to run, try to hide, if you don't, you'll surely die" says Tim and yet again we're off into the doom and dirge. This song closes the album off really well with some tight, odd time changes, wild vocal echo played right where it's needed, and some damn fine placing.

Jerry’s solo on “Cirith Ungol” was the best 30 seconds of our 22 year career!

Everyone in the band was a big "Sword and Sorcery" literature fan, especially Greg [Lindstrom, guitars] and I. He would always turn us on to the great writers who gave us inspiration for our music. We read all the books... Conan, Bran Mak Morn, etcetera, but the books that stood out in my mind are Michael Moorcock's masterpieces: Elric, Hawkmoon, Corum among others. Greg Lindstrom and I met at an English Literature class where the teacher was reading Lord of the Rings... and Greg and I read it and it had an influence on our music and feelings. In retrospect I wish we had picked something easier to remember because a lot of our trouble has been over our name. People couldn't pronounce it or remember it, but we figured once they did they wouldn't forget it! We've humorously been called "Sarah's Uncle" and "Serious Uncool," for example! I know other bands are using the Tolkien angle. Led Zeppelin even made references to it in their earlier songs. I think he was an influence both then and now on many people.

I remember some other possible band names we were conpagering: Minas Tirith, Khazad Dum, and Uruk Hai, all names from "The Lord Of The Rings". Rob and I both liked J.R.R. Tolkien and Enzo Ferrari, so we knew our songs would cover both those subjects!

Lyrics

Try to run try to hide
If you don't you'll surely die
Screaming in terror there you'll lie
In Cirith Ungol Tower of Fire

Gorgons are shriecking their bestial cries
Their piercing cry burns you inpage
Screaming in anguish there you'll lie
In Cirith Ungol Tower of Fire

Demons circle the smoky skies
Your fate hangs before you on a wheel of fire
As you stand revealed to Satans eye
In Cirith Ungol Tower of Fire

Written by Greg Lindstrom

Even though we played many shows over the years, we never were able to go to Europe and play for our most loyal fans. To this day it is my saddest regret! Remember that these probably were not our best performances, but the only ones to survive.

• Metal Fighters.
• morejunk4sale2007 at eBay.
• Some are probably available by contacting Falcon

THIS IS A BLACK  T-SHIRT FROM CIRITH UNGOL WITH THE DESIGN FROM THEIR LP FROST AND FIRE INFRONT AND THEIR LOGO WITH SKULLS BACK. THE BRAND OF THE T-SHIRT IS GILDAN.  ALL SIZES FROM XSMALL TO XXLARGE.

Also available in white.

Availability (black)

• warp7scanner at eBay
• alexisvenom at eBay
• nepturus at eBay

• the plague at eBay

Coool design!!!

i want one

Just stumpled upon this three months old video. Former CU-guitarist Jim Barraza playing parts of Join the Legion.

Cirith Ungol - Join the Legion (live)

Live at Club Soda, Ventura, Ca. April 1991.

Urban Soul live

Playing live 22 Jan 2011.

Featuring Vern Green.

More info

• zombie_thrasher at eBay
• velastore
  

• A bunch of live recordings do exists, waiting to be released!
• There were two live songs released as bonustracks for the 1999 remasters of the first two Cirith Ungol albums.
• Even more live recordings were released on the Servants of Chaos compilation album
• A official Live 7" EP was released by King Fowley in 1996.
• A bunch of live videos has been published to Youtube by two former members.
• Some bootleg live album exists.

Our next one will probably be a double live album. Shit, we might as well do one! I'm sure it will be piledrivin'!!!

Well, it's just that we're a lot more radical live than on record, man. 'Cause like Jerry goes totally wild! He goes nuts live. He plays shit like where my jaw drops on the floor!

In the future, we may have a custom cover done by Michael Whelan for a "live" album like Dragonslayer.

GREG: Aside from Tim rising up out of a coffin at the beginning of the show and battling a giant spider during “Shelob’s Lair”, it was pretty straightforward: Tim shrieking like a banshee, Jerry pulling incredible solos out of his flying V, Rob trying to reduce his drum kit to rubble, and Flint holding the chaos at bay with a wall of thunder.

ROB: Well we also used to do a song at the end of our set where everyone had a chance to do their big solos.  In one part Greg would do the most unbelievable guitar solo, then Jerry would follow with an even more spectacular one, then they would appear together a play a double lead solo that would have literally raised the dead! Usually I would play along with the bass solo then I would play until my hands would bleed sometimes spraying the crowd with my precious bodily fluids, then we would end with this pounding ending that built up into a crescendo snapping at the end like a crack of a whip! Boy, I loved that part!!!!

“This amateur video was never meant to be released. The audio was taken off the mixing console. As we were an opening act, we had little or no sound check, room on stage, and restricted access to the lighting and sound. Even though, this rare and primitive video is one of the few ever taken of the band!”

1. Hype Performance

2. Last Laugh

3. Frost and Fire

4. Eyes

5 Better Off Dead