Customer Reviews

Frost & Fire

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cirith Ungol's first album is by far their best one that they put out. With great bass playing by flint on classics like I'm Alive to the great guitar riffs of Axe man Jerry Fogle on the title track , I would recommend this to someone who really digs some great early 80's metal and pabst blue ribbon beer.

Although this is Cirith Ungol's weakest album it is nothing short of excellent. The flaws of this album lie mainly in Tim Baker's singing and in the production. Tim hadn't really developed his spine-tingling schrieking yet and the production is a little on the trebly side (obscuring the awesome bass playing). With any other band this would mean failure, but this band was so powerful even at half-steam that it will still kick your ass sideways. CU were sort of an anomaly in the thrash sweepstakes of eighties metal, as they still had one foot firmly planted in the seventies - and were all the more great for it. Recommended for fans of early Blue Oyster Cult, the MC5 (the production actually resembles 'Back in the USA' to some extent), Stooges, Pentagram etc.

First off, if you're new to Cirith Ungol the vocals may or may not turn you off. I LOVE his (Tim Baker's) voice. If nothing else, it's distinctive. You'll KNOW without question who is singing as it's very unique.

I got this album when it first came out (on vinyl) and I still listen to it (along with their other 4 albums, Metalblade just came out with a new CD not to long ago) on a regular basis. I think they really picked up the pace on King Of The Dead and One Foot In Hell, but Frost And Fire is STILL classic metal.

Standout tracks (to me) are I'm Alive, Frost And Fire, and Edge Of A Knife. Maybe That's Why is a interesting instrumental. If you like classic heavy metal, give it a listen. You could do a lot worse.

Cirith Ungol is one of the greatest bands that never really made it in the Hard Rock / Metal scene. This is their first album and in my opinion their best. The music has a distinctly unique sound that relies equally on all of the instruments. Great guitar, bass, and drums. The vocals are slightly quirky, but that along with the outstanding musicianship and unique sound are what makes the band great and distinguishes them from the rest of what's out there. Fans of early 80s heavy rock that haven't heard Frost and Fire should definitely check it out.

As co-founder and drummer of Cirith Ungol for 22 years I feel I need to respond to some of the reviews here.

A previous reviewer mentioned that "Frost & Fire" sounded thrown together. The real truth is that we had been in the band for 9 years already and "Frost & Fire" was our attempt to get "commercial" airplay and find success with what we considered some of our more accessable music and yes radio friendly music! When the local LA station KLOS played it once and considered it too heavy, we decided to go for broke with our second album and pulled out all the stops. I disagree with some of the reviewers and think Tim's singing is not only excellent here and that "Frost & Fire" has some of his best vocals. This album features his highest pitched and clearest singing. Anyone who does not call it sining has to compare it with some of todays death metal. "'Im Alive" was one of our all time best songs, which we started almost every set with. The LA Times said that Pearl Jams "Alive" was a blatant rip off of our song, which is debatable.

I also think the title track "Frost & Fire" is excellent with a great middle break and solo and that "Better off Dead" has a great bass line and some of Tim's greatest singing range. This is all said looking back with a historical view that only I of all the reviewers can comment on being there the whole time. Jerry's solos are amazing and his passing was very tragic and sad.

This album has to be listened to many times to appreciate the lyrics, songwriting and performance as a whole not separate parts and to understand as opposed to it being thrown together is was a calculated attempt to obtain a major label contract during a time that only bands with catchy songs that would get any radio airplay were signed. Although i think "King of the Dead" was more representative of the band I am most proud of this album because not only was it our first but it was graced by the unbelievable cover illustration of Michael Whelan's epic portrait of Elric of Melnibone holding Stormbringer high above his head. This was a dream of ours and after so many years of struggle it was our reality.

Considering we produced, self recorded and paid for the entire project and that we were one of if not the first independent band to put out their own album before the wave of indie productions during that time, I think "Frost & Fire" "King of the Dead" & "Servants of Chaos" are a mandatory listen.

That said "King of the Dead" is my favorite and the last album which we had total control over. I am proud that we are mentioned in the same breath as bands that were epic and hope you all appreciate what we were trying to acomplish at a time when only big label bands had any chance of distribution or airplay.

Unfortunately for you the listener you never got to hear the other 20 or so odd songs that never made it to print such as: "Half Past Human - A Quarter to Ape" & "Brutish Manchild" but then that is another story for another day............

Robert Garven
Ventura, CA
March 2008

I listened to this album (which was originally released in the mid 1980s) after One Foot in Hell. I could barely tell it was the same band. This album is a lot less heavy than One Foot in Hell. In fact, at times it is more goodtime rock 'n roll than metal (i.e. "Edge of a Knife"). Tim Baker's vocals are not nearly as strange as they were on later albums where he'd wail more. He is rather restrained here which may be a good thing for some listeners. There are some interesting tracks on Frost and Fire. I love the keyboards on "What Does It Take." It is more diverse than One Foot in Hell which is all pretty much fast, furious, hard-driving metal. The guitar and bass is excellent. Try out the audio clips above and, if you like what you hear, give this CD a try. Then, if you want something heavier, try their later releases.

I would give this CD two and a half stars if that were possible. The first two songs and the last two (including the live version of Cirith Ungol) are extremely listenable, but sandwiched between those tracks are several irredeemably bad songs. This album is, however, forgiveable when you consider that this is prototypical Cirith Ungol. This was the first CD I bought by CU, and the only reason I continued was because I guessed (correctly) that their later material would sound more like the song Cirith Ungol. Buy this CD if you must, but I would strongly recommend King of the Dead, which is their second album. There's really only one sub-par song on it (Death of the Sun).

The production may not be the best but this album is pure fun. Catchy, strange and fresh (30 years after it's release). You haven't heard anything like this before. Some wont like the vocals, but it really is a big part of the album's charm. Guitars are awesome, melodic and powerfull. Buy this one if you like retro heavy metal.

Cirith Ungols first album Frost and Fire is damn good but not nearly as good as the albums that would precede it such as King of the Dead, One Foot in Hell, or Paradise Lost. However owning this album is necessary for any fan of Cirith Ungol. When someone has all the albums you can listen to the musical evolution throughout a bands career. In this case there is a massive evolution in Cirith Ungol's music in the albums after Frost and Fire. In Frost and Fire, I believe that Cirith Ungol was still trying to find their own unique sound that would be heard in King of the Dead and One Foot in Hell. This album sounds experimental in that there are different time signatures, atmospheres that each song bleeds. These atmospheres are different from the later albums that would come. The later albums would be heavier and have a stronger element of what one can consider doom metal. But CU would not get to that point without this album. In the later albums you can hear elements that are in Frost and Fire. Frost and Fire was the necessary foundation that was required for CU to build and develop their distinct sound. So in short...BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Cirith Ungol never made it big, but they have a pretty good dedicated cult following and lot of support from underground metal fans who believe them to be what the genre really is all about. For first timers, you oughta check out their second album King Of The Dead, however this debut effort, released in 1980, after the band had been around since the early 70's, is a fine place to begin as well. However it's been noted that the band laid down their most 'commercial' material for the record, only to be rejected by a local DJ who told them it was 'too heavy'. With that in mind, the album is a great mix of hard rock/heavy metal. Though it's not the heaviest album the band recorded, its the most tuneful. Thats not to say its poppy, but it does have some great grooves and genuine 70's style party rock riffs. While the band were one of the early innvators for power metal along with other underground favs like Manilla Road and the more recognized Rainbow and Rush, they musically, on this record anyway, have a bit in common with early (Fly By Night) Rush. The lyrics deal with the common fantasy themed stuff which back then was sort of rare. Today the power metal genre is probably the most popular among real metal fans. The title track is great and features an awesome breakdown section, bass player Michael Flint really shines on this track. Edge Of A Knife is the most apparent of the bands 70's sound still leftover, with probably one of the best lyrics ever written "I got my rock n roll haircut, I got my rock n roll jeans" although some may find that sort of dated and cheesy. This band really deals in compositions rather than songs, lots of time changes and multi layer elements. A Little Fire and the keyboard laced What Does It Take all have great savage riffs, and the Pink Floyd-ish guitar instrumental Maybe Thats Why is quite a beautiful song.

There isn't too much that could be said about the album track by track, these guys are in a class of their own and it's hard to describe them as anything more than raw and direct hard rock/metal. Their albums were usually independently recorded and released, so this debut especially contains that raw low budget sound. Some might find the bottom end missing, as this album is a little on the trebly side which means the bass is in the mix but its not pounding like say... Master Of Puppets. Also of note is Tim Baker's vocals, they are an aqcuired taste indeed but they fit the music, he is the essential trademark of CU's sound. THe bonus track on the remaster is the bands namesake song, a live take that more clearly indicates their future sound (a more dark and powerful Sabbath inspired sound) which as drummer Rob Garvin states, is the true representation of CU's sound. But if you've never heard this band before, this is an interesting place to start but the more stripped down production might render it a 2nd or 3rd behind their more technically accomplished efforts like King Of The Dead or Paradise Lost. All in all, this is a great album to add to your more obscure metal collection. And as each fan apparently has their fav CU album, this one has to be my own personal fav.