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Album: Cirith Ungol – Servants Of Chaos

January 24th, 2012 · No Comments

Cirith Ungol promo photo Thrash Hits

Cirith Ungol
Servants Of Chaos
Metal Blade
30 January 2012

by Von

Don’t know who Cirith Ungol were ? In a nutshell, there were hard rock/proto-metal pioneers turned doom heroes with a hard-on for fantasy literature and some of the coolest album covers around. Go and listen to Frost And Fire if you haven’t already.

Now the kids have gone, I’ll continue.

Cirith Ungol Servants Of Chaos album cover artwork packshot 400px Thrash Hits

Given that this is a re-issue of an album of offcuts, covers, demos and rare tracks from a band that defines the term “cult”, the fact that I’m listening to Servants Of Chaos through a laptop seems somehow wrong. I should be listening to it on a badly copied C90 I got in the post, or a hand-numbered piece of garishly-coloured vinyl.

With 31 tracks in all, quantity isn’t an issue, and you can certainly get an idea of how the songs have evolved. Early demos for songs on Frost And Fire feature a spaced out, prog keyboard and lack the aggression and velocity of the finished product – no bad thing, but you get the sense that at the time the band were at a crossroads between proggy psychedelia and metal. In a parellel universe, there may be a Cirith Ungol with a keyboard player wearing a cape, rather than the leather-clad heroes we knew.

The stuff that didn’t make it to proper albums, well, there may be a reason for those decisions. They are mostly extended jam sessions that don’t really go anywhere. Sure, there are a few riffs in there that many young doom bands would sell their beards for, but wading through all the general messing about and guitar noodling doesn’t make this a great listening experience. The cover of ‘Fire’ does the original proud, but ‘Secret Agent Man’ is the sound of guys in a practice room blowing off steam after a few beers.

Listen to ‘Frost and Fire’ by Cirith Ungol:

The few live tracks we get are fantastic. With a rich, chunky live sound, Cirith Ungol sound like they were a masterful live band. During the slow sections I can almost feel my thumb burning from holding my lighter aloft. But with only five live tracks on offer, it’s all over far too soon.

This is an album for completists and hardcore fans only. I’m perfectly happy with the releases we have. But if you do want everything Cirith Ungol have done, then Servants Of Chaos is a great package.

3/6

Sounds Like: Things found under Cirith Ungol’s bed.
Standout Tracks: Cirith Ungol (Live), Frost And Fire

Tags: Album · Reviews