Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade (2023)^{Release ID: 48089}

Cirith Ungol were originally formed in 1971 and split in 1992 after releasing a string of reasonably well-received albums. They reformed in 2015 like so many other legacy bands, but unlike a lot of those their first album after reforming, 2020's Forever Black was actually pretty good. Three years later the guys are back with another offering, having once more defied the odds and turning in a terrific album that is even better than Forever Black and stacks up pretty well against the band's '80's "classics", King of the Dead and One Foot in Hell which is good going for a band that is over fifty years old.

Dark Parade is chock full of hooky riffs that stick in the memory and give us old metalheads some decent headbanging action, often switching down gear to a more considered, almost trad doom, pacing to give our aging neck muscles some respite. The riffs aren't all there is to DP though, there is plenty of nifty and often extended soloing that should satisfy the most demanding of six-string enthusiasts, in a couple of places reminding me a bit of Blackmore's brilliant soloing during Rainbow's Stargazer, especially on second track Relentless and the later Sacrifice. The Blackmore reference isn't the only Deep Purple related influence though, the fast section of the album's epic Sailor on the Seas of Fate, with it's soaring keyboard overlay takes me back to the days of Highway Star and Burn.

Of course you can't talk about Cirith Ungol without addressing the elephant in the room that is Tim Baker's vocals, his screeching style not being to everyone's taste. Personally I have got used to him and now even view him as having a distinctive and unique style that works really well on it's own terms. But even if you aren't the biggest Baker fan, I think you would find his singing less irritating here, maybe age has mellowed his voice to a degree and rendered it less grating.

All in all this is a really good trad metal album that flaunts it's roots whilst still sounding modern and vital, which is quite a feat for a band four-fifths of whom are well into their sixties (yes even older than me). Gives me great hope than metal blood never fades!