Metal School - Cirith Ungol
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
- A look back at Cirith Ungol, a criminally underrated band from Ventura, California. Emerging with a dark, doom-centric sound on their 1981 debut album, Frost & Fire, Cirith Ungol was perhaps a bit ahead of their time and had difficulty breaking in during their initial run. After disbanding in 1991, and being out of the music industry for 25 years, Cirith Ungol would reunite in 2016 and finally get some of their long overdue recognition. If you're unfamiliar with Cirith Ungol, now is the perfect time to get up to speed.
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#MetalSchool #CirithUngol #80smetal #TimBaker #RobertGarven #FrostandFire #OneFootInHell #KingoftheDead #PaadiseLost #ElricofMelnibone #heavymetal #listentothis #guitarsolo #JerryFogle #GregLindstrom #JimBarraza #LAmetal #Californiametal #cirithungoldocumentary #ChaosDescends #AtomSmasher #BlackMachine
Metal School is one of the greatest channels on TH-cam. Thanks for the obvious hard work you put in to these. Love them all.
❤️🤘🏻
Agreed! My playlists always get updated after every episode!
@@chrismarsh8452what a blessing that is
Agree
Yes. What this guy said.
Cirith Ungol, and Manilla Road were probably the most unique Metal bands in history.
Interestingly, neither band knew of each others' existence during the 80s!
@@ericv7720 America is large country ...
I have recently discovered both bands thank to Leif Edling from Candlemass 😊
Both bands are pretty similar to each other.
@@user-ut3ij5ji3n Other than they both featured older Hippie looking dudes , and fantasy lyrics they are really different in style. Manilla Road is like Uriah Heep without keyboards. Cirith Ungol is like 1970s Proto Metal Rush. Manilla Road was going for a Speed Metal style, before they decided to change direction. Cirith Ungol was trying really hard to sound like Proto Metal Prog. They both had unique Vocalists. Mark Shelton sounds like a combination of David Byron ( Uriah Heep) and Willy Nelson, Tim Baker sounds like a combination of Geddy Lee and Brian Johnson. He really sounds like Brian Johnson on the song Finger of Scorn. Manilla Road probably influenced Omen, early Omen was similar to Manilla Road. Cirith Ungol probably influenced Fates Warning, or at least gave them the idea to combine 1970s Prog Rock with NWOBHM style Metal ( more so Iron Maiden).
They're still killing it live. Baker sounds more intense than young guys doing death growls and such.
Omg! I remember playing Dungeons and Dragons to this in the background on Friday nights! We were all into Elric at the time so it was a perfect match for our quests as teenagers.
My best friend in high school bought King Of The Dead, on cassette, and we were both immediately into it. Yes, it was not like anything else we were listening to in the mid 80s but that's why we loved it.
R.I.P. Jerry Fogle, one of my favorite lead players ever. “Master of the Pit” contains not one but two of the greatest leads in metal.
Well said.
Just discovered him, glad to, brings inspiration
God bless Jarvis for helping get this band to reunite. I discovered Cirith Ungol when I was probably 13. Almost 40 years later and they are still one of my favorite bands. This is a great episode! Horns Up!
It's pretty awesome that Jarvis of Night Demon is now their bassist. I didn't even know that till I saw this comment.
Yeah, he really brought these legends back to the fore! 🥳😎🤘
They were a bit of a cult, mysterious band back in the 80s. Lots of us had heard of them but couldn't ever find their albums. I'd agree that the vocals are very much an acquired taste, but not many other singers sounded like him!
Idk what Tim Baker was doing in those 25 years, if he was practicing often or working in another band, or if the change is just due to age, but in my opinion his vocals since coming back are the best they’ve ever been
Beautiful. I heard black machine on a midnight radio show back in 1984 and melted my 14 year old mind. Went to record store the next day and bought King of the dead. Been a huge fan ever since Hail and thanks for doing this. Legendary band
Your taste in metal is just killer. Grab a beer and enjoy one of the best underground metal bands.
Thank you thank you! This is the one I've been waiting for. Bought their albums as a kid after reading Michael Moorcock's "Elric" novels & loving the Michael Whelan cover art.
Check out Eternal Champion from Texas. They're a more recent band influenced by Moorcock and similar authors. Here is a lyric video to a track off there second and most recent release. th-cam.com/video/WzR78NbrnOk/w-d-xo.html
Me too. I need to replace those books
I have been a Cirith Ungol since getting my copy of Metal Massacre in 82. Death of the Sun was always the stand out track for me. Luckily we had/still have to this day a little shop in my small Ky town who was able to get me that stuff. I filled out the card that was in Frost and Fire, and in Late 83 while at Parris Island I got a pkg from the band with a lot of cool articles and autographed photos and stickers. It was very cool to me that Robert Garvin put that together with a personal letter to my 19 yr old super fan ass. I still have that stuff 40 yrs later.
Yes...yes! Cirith Ungol the identical twin to manilla road but much more fantasy! Long live Cirith Ungol🤘🏼🍻🫀⚰️⚔️☠️🔥
@@twinturboray oh, inummerable pardons, yes I agree😂
Thank you Metal School for introducing me to so many bands I never would have found on my own. Love your channel.
Thanks for watching! 🤘🏻
Same for me! Plenty bands I already loved, but you do introduce me to plenty I hadn't heard of prior, then I give them a chance and love them, too.
I truly love this band, It was absolutely incredible to see they perform live a couple of years ago in São Paulo. Robert Garven is a real nice guy too!
I remember when I was 15 in the pre internet era, and a friend made me a tape with King of the Dead, which I listened countless times every single day till the K7 broke... Then I got a record and every night I used to come up from school and just couldnt got to bed without listening to It on phones.
King of the Dead is one of the best metal records for me and I love all the other stuff.
And I too hold Forever Black in my top 3, right after King and One Foot in Hell, witch is also great!
Man I'm so glad you covered this band, they're truly underrated and need more coverage, their music is killer and hard hitting. May I make bands suggestions for future videos from the 80's, which are Barren Cross, Angel Dust, Alias Mangler, Recon, Sacred Warrior, Warrior with their album Fighting the Earth, Tyrant with their albums Legions Of The Dead, Too Late To Pray and King Of Kings, Banshee, there are so many heavy metal bands I love from the 80's that need more recognition and I'm really glad a channel like this exists. ❤🤘🎸
How about Jag Panzer?
@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 Yes definitely, them too.
I gotta say this band has the best album covers of all time.
A cold drink, a snack and a new metal school video is the best way to spend my night!
What’s your snack of choice?
I couldn't agree more.
I will get all of Cirith Ungol albums. 😀👍🤘🎸
Cirith on vinyl were a big part of my teenaged years. When CDs came out, you couldn't find their stuff to replace your worn out vinyl/tapes. When online shopping became a thing, I found CDnow and the first 2 albums were amongst the first purchases I made from the internet. The songs are great, Tim Baker's Pterodactyl vocals are uniquely incredible, the bass is up front, kicking ass, but not over the top and the leads were top notch for the times. Why they never made it big is beyond me. They should have been huge IMO, but apparently my musical tastes don't jibe with the general populace.
Ah you took my suggestion! So awesome. Perfect band for this channel.
Whoa, that’s heavy. I’ve never heard of Cirith Ungol before!
For years I've heard of this band and I've seen their t-shirts but I've never really listened to them until seeing this video and that guy's voice is incredible
I was there on the 2nd day of Frost and Fire 2. You couldn’t hear shit from lack of theater acoustics, but nonetheless was there to witness history unfold. One of my most treasured shows for sure. Thanks for covering such a under appreciated band.
Hope they tour back here in the states. Greece keep stealing em from us😂
hell yeah, one of the truest ones out there
whacked out album cover art
Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock
Go read the book series its more wacked out than the cover
I can't wait for Dark Parade to be released this year! Cirith Ungol has always been and remained one of my favorite heavy metal bands.
One of the best come backs on HM scene! Very good album and Baker's voice in perfect condition after all these years!
First hear them when I was 15 dating myself 1984 and have enjoyed them ever since .
Love their album King of the Dead.
Greg is the best! I ordered a Cirith Ungol shirt on Ebay around 2000.Greg was the one selling it to my surprise! I told him how much I love his music.He sent me a hand written note, stickers, guitar picks and a CD of his band Falcon!
Woah, badass!
The covers of their albums are enough for me to get sold
I've been waiting for this one. I wish i could like it multiple times. Thank you. King of the dead is One of my all time favorite albums. I was listening to random obscure metal on TH-cam while gaming one night, and Atom Smasher auto played. I stopped gaming and replayed it just to listen. Then I went and listened to the whole album. King of the Dead maybe my all time favorite metal song. The intro is one of the most epic song intros. I just wish i had found out about them earlier. Discovering Cirith Ungol was the gateway that sent me on a doom metal kick, but to me there's something special about Ungol. Tims vocals were never an acquired taste for me. From the first listen i loved it, there isn't really anyone like him. Eric Wagner of Trouble (who i discovered after Ungol) is probably the closest that i've heard. Also the Bass guitar on the first two albums. It is front and center on some tracks, and it's an awesome contrast to how most Metal tracks are mixed. Master of the Pit is one of my favortie tracks because of the Bass specifically. Better off dead ,although more of a rock track, has a killer bass line. Death of the Sun was on the Metal Massacre tape that also debuted Metallica's Hit the lights before they were signed. Also If there is ever a film adaptation of Elric, some Ungol songs better make it into the soundtrack.
In an interesting bit of trivia, PJ Galligan later was a guitarist in the punk band Angry Samoans, whose vocalist Mike Saunders was a former rock journalist credited with inventing the term "Heavy Metal" in reference to a genre of music!
We used to cover Atom Smasher in a band I was in in '85. Loved Cirith Ungol.
I saw them on Saturday night in Portland, Oregon. Fucking untouchable!!!! 2024 is the FINAL world tour. If you miss it you are fucking up!!!!! The new record is great. Buy merch!!! Give these dudes who gave us so much thier due!!! And no I don't work for them but a buddy is their North American booking agent. I wouldn't be telling you to go to a show that isn't fucking rad. I had so much fun, it's criminal how good they are live!!!!
It's too bad they're not coming to Canada, but at least, I can console myself by catching Night Demon live next month in Montreal...🥳😎🤘
I discovered them looking on those Great blogs on mid 2010's that uploaded all kinds of metal (especially cult bands). I fell in love with 'Frost And Fire' and 'What Does It Take'. Like a year later they announced the reunion... hope I can catch them on the final tour.
one of the best bands ever.
I haven't watched yet but FUCK YES! THANK YOU FOR THIS CHOICE OF BAND! FUCK YES!
Man, truly one of the greatest heavy metal bands period. It's been amazing seeing so many new bands cite them as an influence which grew large even after their initial demise. Growing up in the city 5 minutes away (Oxnard) I always had heard of their legend from the older guys in the music scene. Getting to see their reunion show at the Ventura theater in their hometown was just legendary. Thank you for giving more credit to this truly groundbreaking band that means a lot to me.
Nice! I was at Frost & Fire III, but didn’t make F&F II. Was awesome to see Manilla Road too
@@MetalSchoolChanneloh dude no way! I went to F&F 3 as well. Yeah I thankfully got to see Manilla Road as well before Marks passing. So many amazing sets, it would have been cool to chat if I had known you were there haha
I can't wait to see them in November this year 🤘🏻
Definitely one of the most unique and under-rated bands in history. Absolutely one or the most original sounds ever. Such a shame to have been plagued by all the petty BS that sidelined them and kept them from putting out more awesome music.
I spoke on the phone once with Robert Garvin back in 80s, he came across as a very cool and personable guy, very open and honest, he even recommended some very cool 70s hard rock stuff that I dig even to this day. Long live the mighty Cirith Ungol.
Thank you for doing this video and passing on the info on this much underappreciated juggernaut of a band.
Fun choice ! Finding the perfect singer is a journey.
Been jamming out to their last 2 albums. Heavy rotation in my CD player in my pickup truck. 40+ years later still love it.
Unfortunately, this band never appeared on any of the suggested playlists on streaming platforms! Thank you for sharing such an awesome band!
INCREDIBLE band!
I saw them August 2023 in NYC and they sounded GREAT! One of my all time favorites bands.
How many people are already awaiting his next video after watching this one? 🙋
😄🤘🏻
Awesome!!! I love cirth ungol! I love Elric! I love your documentaries. Always interesting
Me discovering Metal School contributed to the last few years where I’m getting back to my musical roots… Cirith Ungol I really had to ‘learn’ listening to… now I’m totally hooked…
Interesting video!
Thanks for sharing and thanks for listening ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻
Woah, thank you for the excellent music, Tim!!! Hope to see you guys live again soon! 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Congratulations!A metal channel focused on research and information,not just on personal taste.Heavy music has some decades of history,so objectivity is necessary in your reviews.Greetings from Greece!
killer classic! glad you covered them, TY
I agree with this completely
Love this band and I was also hooked on the Elric comic as a kid.
Fun fact.. in the title credits of Richard Pryor's concert film Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)...there's footage shot out of a car window of different venue marquees... and CIRITH UNGOL is on one of them.
KING KOBRA. Can you do an episode about them please?🤘
This little known band is so easy to fall into... it's like some other world of music
Another homework would be checking FALCON's two albums. Guitarist vocalist Perry Grayson (CU super fan) joined Greg Lindstrom (and drummer Darin McCloskey) and recorded some early CU material (3 songs that ended on 'Half Past Human' were recorded first on FALCON's debut) as well as new stuff. 2nd album had 'Show You All'. There's also a compilation of demos and stuff released on 2020.
Never been that into Cirith Ungol, but their album art have always been my favorites
Love Cirith Ungol! So glad to see you cover them!
I was a huge fan back in the 80s and I wrote them right before One Foot In Hell was released. They sent me a flyer for the new album and a typed note thanking me for being a fan. It's signed by Flint. I still have it and a couple of the stickers they included in the envelope.
That's awesome!
We all bought their tapes and albums because of the album covers, then we were glad they were pretty good. I made the same mistake with Nazareth, but later Nazareth grew on me and I even ended up learning This Flight Tonight. \m/
Molly Hatchet was the biggest culprit in this department. The covers scream Manowar but the music sounds like B-level Skynyrd! (Still decent but hardly epic.)
I made a similar mistake with Nazareth except I bought an album of theirs based on the title. I bought Too Close For Rock And Roll. Should have gotten Expect No Mercy instead. 😁
@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 Hahah, yes.
@@markkonzerowsky8871 Molly Hatchet, yes. I remember checking out those covers thinking it was another Black Sabbath. 🤘
@@markkonzerowsky8871I was about to say. It's pure blue balling how Metal Molly Hatchet's album covers look compared to their music.
Exceptional band worth listening to.
Thanks for the great video. ⚒
This is one of the videos I was hoping you would do, such a unique band!
Thank you so much for this video!
Jerry Fogle really was an amazing guitarist. I read somewhere that he had always regretted leaving the band and that lead to alcoholism and ultimately to his death. His story is so sad. The dude clearly had talent and worked hard to create such beautiful music, he deserved a successful musician career.
And of course, the rest of the band also deserved better. Tim Baker is an amazing singer. The first song I heard of them was Atom Smasher, and it was Tim unusual vocals that immediately made me a fan. His singing is even better on One Foot in Hell than King of the Dead, in my opinion.
Cirith Ungol is my favourite band. They got me into reading Elric of Melniboné and also made me a fan of Michael Whelan. My favourite Whelan painting is Elric and the Sinking City. I want to someday buy a print of it to get it on my wall. Maybe it will be the cover of the upcoming album?
Love this vid. I played this band’s music on my high school radio show in the late 80’s and then on my metal shows in the 90s and 00s. Highly under appreciated bands with 5 really great releases!
I always suspected Tim Baker's technique began as a reaction to Rob Halford. Hearing the orange demo confirms this. Great post!
A huge influence on todays metal bands, seeing them live was an experience, and Jarvis is on his way to super-stardom with Night Demon, guy can never be praised enough with bringing Cirith Ungol back where they belong
Great video as always! Cirith Ungol have always been a favourite band of mine.
Thank you, sir! Definitely a must for any doom metal fan :)
"Chaos Descending" and "Chaos Rising." Nice.
Great video as usual. Crazy I was just talking to a friend about old school punk and metal bands from Oxnard and Ventura
Wow. Another great documentary, on another band I had never knew existed! Thank you so much!
Thank you metal school! Always looking forward to your videos 😎🍻🤘
One of the top 10 albums of the 80’s was King of the Dead imo
Thank you for all the work you do for make these videos.
with a sound deeply rooted in the seventies hard' n progressive rock , they managed to create a unique brand of epic metal with some doomy overtones !!!
they are still going .Saw them last year in Vegas at Psycho Fest. sounded great !
Effort, enthusiasm, and reverence for metal. This and other factors combine to make this channel a true gem.
❤️🤘🏻
Well done, sir
Cirith Ungol rules
that Orange album really gives me a very hard edge Alice cooper and Bowie vibe. interesting band here, never heard them, like em i do. great share here ty for that.
Another fantastic video. I have learned so much and found some great bands through your videos that I almost assuredly would have never found.
Niiiice! Your channel is great man🤙 Love this very unique band.
I came across this band many years ago rummaging through used vinyls at a record store and found King of the Dead. I liked the cover art and went for it… I was hooked ever since and really like this band quite a bit!
I corresponded with Greg after purchasing some t-shirts online in the late 90s or early 2000's cant remember exactly when. He sent me a letter, some picks and stickers and a copy of a demo CD he was working on with a band called Falcon. The track Shelob's layer is on it if I remember correctly. Ultra cool guy and King of The Dead is one of my favorite metal albums of all time regardless of sub-genre (and I'm big into thrash and death metal too). As the guy in the video says "criminally underrated" band IMO.
your channel is amazing, immediately subscribed!
You do a great job with this Metal School series. That being said, this band has blown out loud since their inception.
Yes!!! Next do Hirax!!
Cirith Ungol is one of my favorite bands of all time. Glad you did a video on them
AMAZING!!! Metal School RULES!!!
This is fire
For simple clarification, I did not leave the band until after Jimmy left. In fact, I was with the band still a good 6 months after Jimmy left. We were looking for a new guitar player and auditioned some guys but none were quite up to what we needed. As a further mention to that, right about the time Jimmy left, one of our roadies who was taking a film class at a local college, was shooting a music video for us. He needed some outdoor shots and I brought in a friend of mine who was a guitar player, to be a part of those shots. My friend would not join the band however he was good enough to do so.
It was after all of that when I left and it was not because the label dropped us. The real reason for me leaving was we were all broke musicians, and I was struggling paying my part of the rehearsal room rent. Add to that, we were not getting any traction with finding a suitable replacement for Jimmy. I loved what the band was doing and wanted to stay with it, I just could not afford it.
Hey, Vernon! Thanks for the clarification. I had a hard time finding much info from that period. Would LOVE to see that video though.
Oooo, a band I have never heard before? Sweet!
Wow, you're in for a treat
This is definitely the passage from Metal School to Metal University, although this band is not for my taste, well maybe the album Paradise Lost, but not the King of the Dead album. Thanks and keep it coming. I already done my all homework, so gimme my diploma...😊
Vocals sick. Guitars are great. Love the overall ambiance
Keep em coming brother. Great job!!!
I love these vids you have to be a true Metal Head to do all of this work and i salute you Metal Brother🤘🤘
I discovered Cirith Ungol pretty early, however it took some years of time and repeated listening before I fully apprecieted them.
Then they went from a good band to being one of my absolute favorite bands ⚔💀⚔
Great video as always!
By the way, I was at the Keep It True-concert shown in this video. Front row 🤘Amazing show!
Woah, that’s awesome! Yeah, that looked like a great show. The whole band was on fire.
I've tried so many times to get Cirith Ungol them over the years, but I just can't. I love a lot of the instrumental side of the music, but the vocals just grate on me too much. I hoped I'd get used to it, but it won't happen. I still enjoyed this video, and love these career recaps that you do. Metal history is interesting whether I like the band or not.
. I've never heard of this band and can see why they never made it big. You do have a great channel and I like how you pick way off the beaten path bands to cover.
We were hooked from the first listen to Frost & Fire, interesting that you mentioned that for some it takes a few listens. Thank you for uploading this lml