Cirith Ungol were a Californian metal band heavily influenced by fantasy literature-- they took their name from Shelob the spider's mountain passs from Lord of the Rings and every album cover featured artwork initially used for Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné series. The band was steeped in a sound equal parts '70s hard/psych rock, Black Sabbath, and some forward-thinking ideas of their own. Although their debut record Frost and Fire is frequently hailed as the early-metal bees knee's, I much prefer this demo of theirs from 1979 as it features many of the songs that would eventually end up on the album in much rawer form. Also, the final version of the title track didn't have the trippy synth. There's some great guitar work, and Michael Flint's gnarly basstone really grinds it up. But what will truly make or break this demo for the listener are the wails of Tim Baker. By all accounts, the band were hardly popular back in the day, but Aesop from Squidlair pals Cosmic Hearse put it best-- "The term "cult band" here means that nobody gave a fuck when they were around, people even hated them, but now everyone claims to have been on board since the beginning."
So do yourself and the band some justice and lend your ears.
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