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CIRITH UNGOL
Live At The Roxy
Metal Blade Records

There is something about Heavy Metal music that is undeniably a Live proposition. In as much as a studio album can be raw and unfiltered, seeing a band live in all their power and majesty just brings things to another level. While everyone is still grieving the loss of John 'Ozzy' Osbourne, the facts are that his final goodbye to his beloved fans, and the massive celebration to honor him and BLACK SABBATH has now been verified to be the biggest charity CONCERT ever held in the world. To all the folks who were lucky enough to score tickets, and the rest of the millions (myself included) who watched from abroad wherever they were, it proved without a shadow of a doubt that the power of Heavy music is not only still alive and well (although now missing some of it's most important forefathers), but that witnessing this live is well and truly where our music comes to life!

And that brings me to another Heavy band sadly at the twilight of their careers as well, Ventura, Cali's own bringers of doom CIRITH UNGOL. Being formed in 1971, the year BLACK SABBATH released the seminal Master Of Reality album, the band didn't actually release any music 'til 1978's The Orange Album demo cassette, then followed it with 1979's self-titled demo cassette. By the time they released their first actual album, 1981's i>Frost And Fire, they were one of the Godfathers of early U.S. Metal, along with MANILLA ROAD, RIOT, Y&T (who went by YESTERDAY AND TODAY in the 70's), MANOWAR and THE RODS. CIRITH was not one of those bands who churned out an album every year and then toured all over. No sir. After F.A.F. they waited 3 years to release King Of The Dead. Then 2 years later for One Foot In Hell, and then didn't release anything 'til 1991's Paradise Lost. After that, the band went on hiatus until they came back from the dead to release the 2018 single "Witch's Game". By that time a whole new generation of Headbangers had been born and clamored to see one of the early purveyors of U.S. Metal.

One of the great things about the early forefathers is that they all had their own original sound. There was no confusing this band from that one, or these cats kinda sound like those dudes. Nope. And you can make that statement even more with C.U. With their doomy, menacing sound and the inimitable and unmistakable voice of lyricist/vocalist Tim Baker, no one before or since can replicate their sledgehammer sound. And hearing them Live, be it just a recording and not in person lets you hear a still potent band at the height of their powers. And this isn't even CIRITH's first Live album. That honor goes to 2017's I'm Alive, which was recorded at one the world's great underground metal festivals, Athens Greece's "Up The Hammers" Festival. But this newest opus, Live At The Roxy brings things kind of full circle as CIRITH played there back on January 19th, 1983 in a celebration of the OG Metal Massacre compilation with fellow album-mates BITCH, MALICE & PANDEMONIUM. In fact, legend has it there's a legendary bootleg recording of that show (which unfortunately I've never heard nor seen). But no matter, as I will be more than happy with this Live document.

So let's talk about Live At The Roxy. I've been listening to Heavy music since the mid-70's when I first discovered KISS and BLACK SABBATH. I like to think that I know a little something about this music, and all that it encompasses. For me, it's not just music, it's my life. Without Heavy Metal music, the sights, sounds and the bands themselves, I doubt very seriously I'd even be here. It's made that much of an impact on me, and my life. And without hyperbole I want to say this is one of the best sounding Live albums I've EVER heard in my 50+ years of listening to Heavy music. Now granted, I have some KRK Rokit 5 powered studio monitor speakers hooked up to my computer, but they can't fix what is already broken. If it sounds like shit originally, they won't polish the turd. This album sounds amazing! The separation of sound, Robert Garvin's drum sound with toms, floor and snares in different speakers, the double shot of OG guitarist Greg Lindstrom and NIGHT DEMON's Armand John Anthony (playing 2nd guitar) and NIGHT DEMON's Jarvis Leatherby on bass gives you the illusion that you were AT the Roxy for this show! And I own all of the great Live albums of ALL time, from UFO to THIN LIZZY, from KISS and THE WHO to OZZY, and everything in between, I'll stack this with them all! Bet! And this isn't just a single album either. Part I of this show consisted of their latest album at that time (2023's The Dark Parade played in its entirety). But then you get a greatest hits live along with it, from iconic tracks like "Atom Smasher" to "I'm Alive". You get "Black Machine", "Chaos Descends", "Frost And Fire", "Join The Legion" to the 1st C.U. track ever put on wax from that aforementioned Metal Massacre album, "Death Of The Sun". Even a great cover of "Fire", the well-known track from THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN, also covered back in the day by NWoBHM Legends MORE and Canadian underground kings THE HUNT. 20 tracks and 1 hour 46 minutes of brain melting Metal power by one of the underground's most iconic bands. How does it get any better?? Unless they're playing in your living room itself, it doesn't by my calculations.

I have to say I wasn't expecting this to be as mind-bending as it is. If you're already a fan, I don't think I'll have to convince you how badly you need this in your life. And if for some inexcusable reason you're not really familiar with the mighty CIRITH UNGOL, then let this be the opening salvo in your conversion to Join The Legion! While they may put out another studio album, I do believe they've retired from playing live. All the more reason to revel in the glory of CIRITH UNGOL. Do it before the earth sees its final days.......

And yes Igor, there will be Vinyl! In fact, micro-pressed Limited number color variations with a DVD of the whole show! Pay now or pay thru the nose later.

4.9 Out Of 5.0 Skulls☠️☠️☠️☠️