Cirith Ungol (band)

Cirith Ungol is an American heavy metal band formed in late 1971 in Ventura, California.^[1] An early doom and power metal group, Cirith Ungol is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery).^[2] 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.

Cirith Ungol
Cirith Ungol at Wacken Open Air 2022
Background information
Origin	Ventura, California, U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal doom metal US power metal
Years active	1971–1992, 2016–present
Labels	Metal Blade, Liquid Flames, Restless
Members	Tim Baker Robert Garven Greg Lindstrom Jarvis Leatherby Armand Anthony
Past members	Neal Beattie Jerry Fogle Michael Vujea Jim Barraza Vernon Green
Website	truemetal.org/cirithungol

Throughout the 1970s, the band generally played a style of heavy metal heavily rooted in hard and psychedelic rock. Its first studio album, Frost and Fire (1981), featured a heavier sound,^[3] generally regarded as an early example of American power metal. By its second studio album, King of the Dead (1984), it had solidified its power metal style while gravitating toward a much "darker" sound, with many considering the album among the first doom metal releases.

History

Early years

Drummer Robert Garven (pictured in 1979) is the band's sole continuous member.

Greg Lindstrom, Robert Garven, Jerry Fogle and Pat Galligan (later a guitarist in Angry Samoans) played in Titanic,^[4] their first band in junior high school. With a desire to play heavier music similar to that of Mountain and Grand Funk Railroad, the rest of the band parted with Galligan and founded Cirith Ungol in late 1971.

After forming in late 1971, the band played their first gig on January 1, 1972, at an anti-Vietnam war peace rally.

In 1980, they were signed by Liquid Flames Records, and released their first album, Frost and Fire,^[4] in 1981, with Tim Baker on vocals and songs written by bassist and guitarist Greg Lindstrom.^[5] It was described by some music journalists as 'The Worst Heavy Metal Album of All Time'.^[4]

Their second album, King of the Dead, was released in on July 2, 1984,^[4] and contained lyrics primarily written by vocalist Tim Baker and drummer Robert Garven.^[6] The album was then followed by One Foot in Hell on August 12, 1986 and Paradise Lost on August 23, 1991.^[4]

Disbandment and inactivity

They played on December 13, 1991, which would be their last live show for 25 years, then disbanded in 1992 following frustration with their record label.^[7]

In 2001, Metal Blade Records released in Germany Servants of Chaos, a compilation album of unreleased demos and live songs.^[8] 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 Wolf & Rissmiller's Country Club in California.^[9]

Lindstrom now plays with Falcon, who perform some Cirith Ungol songs.^[10] Founding guitarist Jerry Fogle died from liver failure on August 20, 1998.^[11]

Reunion

Cirith Ungol in Germany, 2019

The band was reformed by members Tim Baker, Robert Garven, Jim Barraza, and Greg Lindstrom on October 8, 2016, at the second annual Frost and Fire Festival in Ventura, California.^[12] Throughout 2017, the band had set out to headline and co-headline several European and US festivals, including Keep It True (Germany), Up the Hammers (Greece), Defenders of the Old (US), Chaos Descends (Germany), Psycho Las Vegas (US), Days of Darkness (US), and Hammer of Doom (Germany).^[13] In April 2018, Cirith Ungol performed at the Hell's Heroes Festival in Houston, Texas, and at the NYDM Spring Bash in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In August 2018, Cirith Ungol released the single "Witch's Game". The full-length album Forever Black followed in 2020.^[14] Another full-length album, Dark Parade, was released on October 20, 2023, and the live album Live at the Roxy on April 25, 2025.

In October 2023, the band announced that they will retire from performing live at the end of 2024.^[15] That said, the band toured in South America in 2025, and at the urging of Robert Garven the band will continue to perform at exclusive live shows. They are currently working on new material for their 7th studio album.

Artistry

Name

The band took their name from the mountain pass Cirith Ungol in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings.^[16] 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:

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!

— Robert Garven^[17]

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!

— Greg Lindstrom^[18]

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 Melniboné saga; the art is by Michael Whelan.^[19]

Members

• 
  Tim Baker
• 
  Jim Barraza
• 
  Robert Garven
• 
  Jarvis Leatherby
• 
  Greg Lindstrom

Current

• Tim Baker – lead vocals (1976-1992, 2016–present), keyboards (1975-1976), backing vocals (1974-1979), touring member (1974-1978)
• Armand Anthony – guitars (2023–present), backing vocals (2023-present)
• Robert Garven – drums (1972-1992, 2016–present), lead vocals (1976-1979), backing vocals (1974-1976, 1979-1982)
• Greg Lindstrom – guitars, keyboards (1976–1982, 2016–present), bass guitar (1972–1980, 1987), lead vocals (1976-1979), backing vocals (1979-1982, 2016-present)
• Jarvis Leatherby – bass guitar (2016–present) backing vocals (2016-present)

Former

• Jerry Fogle – guitars (1972–1987; died 1998)
• Neal Beattie – lead vocals (1972–1976)^[20]
• Michael "Flint" Vujea – bass guitar (1981–1987, 1988)
• Jim "Jimmy" Barraza – guitars (1987–1992, 2016-2023), backing vocals (1989-1992, 2016-2023)^[21]
• Vernon Green – bass guitar (1988–1992)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Studio

Year	Album	Album details	Chart performance
			US	CAN [22]	GER [23]	SWI [24]
1981	Frost and Fire	Released: October 30, 1981 Label: Liquid Flames Records (self-released)	—	—	x	x
1984	King of the Dead	Released: July 2, 1984 Label: Enigma	—	—	x	—
1986	One Foot in Hell	Released: August 12, 1986 Label: Metal Blade	—	—	x	—
1991	Paradise Lost	Released: August 23, 1991 Label: Restless	—	—	—	—
2020	Forever Black	Released: April 24, 2020 Label: Metal Blade	—	130	11	25
2023	Dark Parade	Released: October 20, 2023 Label: Metal Blade	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes that the recording did not chart, was not released in that territory, or is uncertified. "×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived.

EP

Year	Album	Album details	Charts
			US	GER [23]
2021	Half Past Human	Released: May 28, 2021 Label: Metal Blade	—	—
"—" denotes that the recording did not chart, was not released in that territory, or is uncertified.

Live

Year	Album	Album details	Charts
			US	GER [23]
2019	I'm Alive	Released: October 25, 2019 Label: Metal Blade	—	42
"—" denotes that the recording did not chart, was not released in that territory or is uncertified.

Compilation

• Frost and Fire / King of the Dead (One Way; 1995, Canada)
• Servants of Chaos (Metal Blade Records; 2001)

Box set

• The Legacy (Metal Blade Records, 2017)

Mixtapes

• Untitled demo^[A] (self-released; 1978)

Singles

• "Witch's Game" (Metal Blade Records; 2018) in the film Planet of Doom
• Brutish Manchild (Metal Blade 2021)

Other appearances

• Metal Massacre (compilation appearance, 1982)
• The Metal Machine (compilation appearance, 1984)
• Best of Metal Blade, Vol. 2 (compilation appearance, 1988)
• Double Whammy (compilation appearance, 1999)
• Metal Blade 20th Anniversary (compilation appearance, 2002)

Bootlegs

• Cirith Ungol (bootleg EP, 1979)
• Live (bootleg single, 1996)

Notes

1. Colloquially referred to as "the Orange Album".