Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Cirith Ungol - King of the Dead (1984)

Fantasy-themed heavy metal rarely lives up to the expectation set by the album cover/title.  It often crosses my mind that if bands paid half as much attention to the musical content of their albums as they did with the cool artwork then the world would be a better place.  Most Manowar albums suffer from this scenario quite a lot in my experience so it is refreshing to have found Cirith Ungol a decade or so ago as one of the few bands who lived up to the promise of the etchings and sketchings on their record covers.

I get the dislike for the vocals (usually it is one of my major issues with records) but I have played this so much now that I actually would miss Tim Baker's vocals if they weren't there, I couldn't see anyone else being able to fill his shoes most definitely.  I think the vocals is what sets the music apart from other similar artists - in a good way for me - and makes me reach for anyone of the bands first three albums in order to scratch my epic/heavy metal itch.

The main cause for celebration here is the late Jerry Fogle's guitar work.  It is precise and vivacious, making the album soar and glide like some giant winged metal eagle that casts a huge shadow over all it flies over.  The pace of the album is largely slow to mid-tempo and Fogle's guitar sounds like it is centre-stage for most of it as a result, like it truly takes the lead and not just in the solo sense!  The percussion/rhythm unit of "Flint" on bass and Robert Garven on drums compliment him superbly, supporting where required and pairing back when required to do so also.

As much as I enjoy it, I can't go much above four stars for it as it never quite strays into being outstanding.  It most certainly is competent and unique at the same time but still lacks a little edge to just elevate it to five star material.  Too many tracks end the same or seem to get trapped within themselves and almost feel like they end without a full exploration of what they set out to achieve.  Still the album kept the flames that Frost and Fire started some three years earlier burning brightly for another couple of years.