Cirith Ungol – Frost and Fire
Today on my way out I grabbed two CDs for the road and this was one. I had re-discovered this band about a year ago listening to old mix tapes I had made in the 90’s. The song was “I’m Alive” and when I heard it I was in amazement of the vocals, music and feel of the song, but I couldn’t remember who it was. After a couple of days I finally tracked the band name down. How did I come about putting this amazing song on a cassette in 1994? I decided I must have discovered it from a Metal Blade sampler at the time.
The song “I’m Alive” has great lyrics, crunchy guitars that rip and are epic and just an overall great listen. Today I listened to the Frost and Fire cd start to finish. Very cool. There is a guitar only track half way through that seems like it doesn’t belong on the cd as it begins slow acoustic almost amateurish basement/bedroom recording but it grows into a monster but holds that lo fi quality to it all the while. The band is known for its sword and sorcery style lyrics and style but this, their debut is closer to a hybrid of 70’s hard rock and metal.
The title track is epic in one sense but all Rock and has a catch to it. The whole record is good. These guys were a little ahead of their time. The cd ends with “Cirith Ungol” played live.
When I am gone someday, add this to my ‘play on my behalf’ playlist.
