Cult heavy metal legends, Cirith Ungol, today announce their official retirement from live performances at the close of 2024.
In a collective statement, the band comments, “After careful deliberation, we have decided that 2024 will be the final year that Cirith Ungol will be performing live. Having taken a twenty-five-year-long hiatus, we could never have imagined the tidal wave of love and support that would come from all of you upon our return. From the depths of our soul, we would like to thank every one of you for attending our shows and supporting our music. We are immensely proud of the work we have created in the past few years, and are beyond excited about our latest epic album, “Dark Parade”“
“Legions, this is your call to arms. If you’ve never had the opportunity to see the band live, or if you want to see us perform once more, 2024 will be your last chance. We will be announcing shows worldwide in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for news. “
“The end approaches, but we’re not there yet. We look forward to seeing you all on the road, one final time. With our undying love and eternal gratitude.”
Recently Cirith Ungol shared their latest single, ‘Looking Glass.’ The monolithic new track comes by way of the band’s impending sixth full-length, “Dark Parade”, set for release on October 20th via Metal Blade Records.
Up-tempo but still moody, latest single ‘Looking Glass’ begins with a shattering mirror and gains steam with trenchant riffs that slither between a multitude of muted chugs. During the understated midsection, the tone turns dusky as the tune reaches its pinnacle, with lengthy, blues-based leads. Rob Garven‘s drums match the shifting mood beat for beat. “It has the quintessential UNGOL slowed down middle section, like ‘Join The Legion’ [from 1991’s Paradise Lost]and ‘War Eternal’ [from 1986’s One Foot In Hell],” says Garven. “I spent quite a lot of time getting the drum fill at the beginning of the solo just perfect.”
Few bands in the history of the heavy metal underground have a story as remarkable, improbable, or uplifting as that of Cirith Ungol. Formed in Ventura, California in the early 1970s, Cirith Ungol created a sound the world had never experienced before. Rather than passively channeling their influences, the band was driven to forge an altogether heavier, darker, more apocalyptic sound. It was obscure and arcane, mysterious and eccentric, epic and expansive, but most of all, unfailingly, bone-crushingly heavy, dark, and doom-filled.
The first track of the album, composed was the crushing ‘Relentless,’ which reinforced the band’s confidence and clarity of vision. The rest of the album came naturally, fueled by personal misery and the tragedy of worldwide collapse.
With all eight demos finished – which are included on the expanded edition of the album – Cirith Ungol started recording “Dark Parade” in October 2022. The end result is an unrelenting triumph of pessimism and pain; a head-over-heels, Lovecraftian tumble into an abyss of horror and despair and arguably the most vitriolic expedition Cirith Ungol has undertaken to date. Despite the fantasy-inspired art on the band’s albums and their Tolkien-derived name – the band stopped exploring sword and sorcery-related themes in the mid-’80s. Most of the subjects they’ve addressed since then have been far more real and frightening than any ravenous make-believe creatures fighting sword-wielding warriors.
‘Looking Glass’ marks the beginning of a conceptual four-song sequence that introduces listeners to “The Dark Parade,” a visceral and poignant multi-song presentation that leaves little room for happy endings. “Is it a nightmare tale of self-reflection or just another journey through the cracks in our reality and the curse of broken dreams?” asks vocalist Tim Baker, shedding a little light on the “darkness” within. “It’s not quite what Lewis Carroll [author of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Through The Looking-Glass etc.]had in mind, but an even more bleak and deadly vision. Alice found that her visions were the complete opposite of her dreams, but here they are one and the same. Will waking dispel the nightmares, or are our waking hours just the extension of them? Once we smash the mirror, there is no turning back.”
The album is available for pre-order HERE.
“Dark Parade” will be available on digipak-CD, digitally, and LP in the following color variants:
- Special edition LP (slipcase w/ hot-foil embossing, 2xLP incl. demos of the entire album, 12” booklet, 2 posters, art print, tote bag – ltd. 1000)
- 180g Black vinyl (EU excl.)
- Olive Green Marbled vinyl (EU excl. – ltd. 700)
- Charcoal Marbled vinyl (EU excl. – ltd. 500)
- Pale Grey w/ Black Smoke vinyl (EU excl. – ltd. 500)
- Gold “Black Dust” vinyl (Metal Blade Store EU excl. – ltd. 300)
- Fog Marbled vinyl (US excl.)
- Grey/ Black Marbled vinyl (US excl.)
