CIRITH UNGOL

I love Lord of the Rings. Not sure why...there are probably many reasons. Yeah, the movies were pretty good, but anyone who has seen them without reading the books is seriously missing out. (But let's not get into that.) 

Moving on, I've been reading Decibel Magazine's blog a lot recently (see link to your right), and it's really a great one. Excellent writing, a lot of widely varying tastes communicating with each other, great photos and recommendations, and awesome sense of humor. Just as an example, as of right now their latest post is titled: "The  Top 5 Enemies of the Revolution in Latin America Living in the United States." (NOTE: I've just been shocked to realize that this list includes Devendra Banhart...not sure how people can hate on this guy, but whatever. Maybe someone is a lil' jealous. Real mature, Jeff.) I've been discovering gem after gem on their blog, and that's just in the last few days. So, in addition to hearing the term "Invisible Oranges" for the first time (this is absolutely genius...search for it on the blog itself, I can't go into it here), one of those gems is the band CIRITH UNGOL. 

Yes, this band is named after the pass through the Ephel Duath mountains above Minas Morgul, refuge of the King of the Dead, and is the only land route into the realm of Mordor. Honestly, the Deciblog didn't even have to say anything else--the band's name alone got me so excited that I downloaded it approximately five minutes after getting home from work. 

I was right to be excited. Since I very actually worship the first four albums of Black Sabbath in a legitimately religious way, Cirith Ungol's album King of the Dead (1986) is currently blowing my mind all over my face, as my friend Walter says. The Deciblog featured it as their No. 4 Great Albums You Have Never Heard--definitely a list worth checking out. I'm talking about weirdly awesome vocals, fuzzed out wooly mammoth riffs, and DAMN but this record has some serious face-melters scattered throughout. They also do a metal version of Bach's Tocata in D Minor, THE MOST METAL FUGUE OF ALL!!! I'm talking about the entire piece here, not just the beginning, and it sounds amazing on a guitar that sounds like an angry beehive. 

I compared this band earlier to Black Sabbath, but it was not meant to equate them at all. Cirith Ungol are one of those bands where another kickass band's influence is clear, but not overbearing. The aforementioned album also contains a LIVE TRACK that reveals that the band owes almost as much to the Clash in generating their sound as they do to Iommi, Ward, Osbourne and Butler. This band is doing something truly original and obliterative with the Sabbath's legacy, which is really just awesome beyond words. Just wait 'til the upward spiraling solo in the song "Cirith Ungol" carries you closer and closer to Mount Doom. You'll see what I mean.