Cirith Ungol (band)

History

Greg Lindstrom, Robert Garven, Jerry Fogle and Pat Galligan (later a guitarist in Angry Samoans) played in Titanic, their first band in junior high school. With a desire to play heavier music similar to that of Mountain and Grand Funk Railroad, the band parted with Galligan and reformed in 1972 as Cirith Ungol. They played original, instrumental songs before adding Neal Beattie on vocals.

In 1981, they were signed by Enigma Records and released their first album, Frost and Fire, with Tim Baker on vocals.

The second album, King of the Dead was released in 1984, followed by One Foot in Hell in 1986. They disbanded after their fourth album Paradise Lost, due to frustration with the music business.

In 2001, Metal Blade Records released in Germany Servants of Chaos, a compilation album of unreleased demos and live songs. With old tapes and assistance from Lindstrom and Garven, it was an attempt to give fans a wealth of archival and previously unheard material before the tapes deteriorated beyond retrieval. This double CD was later re-released worldwide, with a rare 1984 live DVD recorded at the Wolf & Rissmiller's Country Club in California.

Lindstrom now plays with Falcon, who perform some Cirith Ungol songs.

Founding guitarist Jerry Fogle died from liver failure on August 20, 1998.

Members of the band came together for the 2015 Frost and Fire music festival in Ventura, California, in their first public appearance as a band since 1991, where they participated in a meet-and-greet, signing items for fans.

Cirith Ungol announced that they would reunite for the 2016 Frost and Fire event, playing their first live show since December 13, 1991. The line-up for the reunion is unknown.

The Name

The band took their name from the mountain pass Cirith Ungol in J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The name 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 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.

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!

Album cover art

Each studio album's cover art is taken from the cover of a DAW Books edition of a book in Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone saga; the art is by Michael Whelan.

Band Members

Studio albums

Compilation albums