Throughout the 1970s, the band generally played a style of heavy metal heavily rooted in hard and progressive rock. The band's first studio album, Frost and Fire (1981), featured a heavier sound, generally regarded as an early example of American power metal. By the band's second studio album, King of the Dead (1984), the band had solidified their power metal style of playing while gravitating toward a much 'darker' sound, with many considering the album among the first doom metal releases. The band took their name from the mountain pass Cirith Ungol in J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The name is Elvish and means "Pass of the Spider." While the place in Tolkien's book is pronounced "kirith ungol," the band pronounced it "sirith ungol. Each studio album's cover art is taken from the cover of a DAW Books edition of a book in Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné saga; the art is by Michael Whelan.
Greg Lindstrom, Robert Garven, Jerry Fogle and Pat Galligan (later a guitarist in Angry Samoans) played in Titanic, their first band in junior high school. With a desire to play heavier music similar to that of Mountain and Grand Funk Railroad, the rest of the band parted with Galligan and founded Cirith Ungol in late 1971. After forming in late 1971, the band played their first gig on January 1, 1972 at an anti-Vietnam war peace rally.
In 1980, they were signed by Liquid Flames Records, and released their first album, Frost and Fire, with Tim Baker on vocals and songs written by bassist and guitarist Greg Lindstrom. Their second album, King of the Dead was released in on July 2, 1984 and contained lyrics primarily written by vocalist Tim Baker and drummer Robert Garven. The album was then followed by One Foot in Hell on August 12, 1986, and Paradise Lost on August 23, 1991.
They played their last live show on December 13, 1991 and disbanded in 1992, following frustration with their record label.
In 2001, Metal Blade Records released in Germany Servants of Chaos, a compilation album of unreleased demos and live songs. With old tapes and assistance from Lindstrom and Garven, it was an attempt to give fans a wealth of archival and previously unheard material before the tapes deteriorated beyond retrieval. This double-CD was later re-released worldwide, with a rare 1984 live DVD recorded at Wolf & Rissmiller's Country Club in California. Founding guitarist Jerry Fogle died from liver failure on August 20, 1998.
The band was reformed by members Tim Baker, Robert Garven, Jim Barraza, and Greg Lindstrom on October 8, 2016 at the 2nd annual Frost and Fire Festival in Ventura, California. Throughout 2017, the band had set out to headline and co-headline several European and US festivals, including Keep It True (Germany), Up The Hammers (Greece), Defenders Of The Old (US), Chaos Descends (Germany), Psycho Las Vegas (US), Days Of Darkness (US) and Hammer of Doom (Germany). In April 2018, Cirith Ungol performed at the Hell's Heroes Festival in Houston, Texas and at the NYDM Spring Bash in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In August 2018, Cirith Ungol released the single "Witch's Game". Their latest record Forever Black was released on April 24, 2020.
100 Mph
Cirith Ungol Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We're the men who play it we're here to kick your ass
[Chorus]
Coming like a hurricane a hundred miles an hour
We don't stop for nothing cause we've got the power
Our nerves are made of steel and there's ice in our veins
[Chorus]
Call it heavy metal comes on hard and fast
We're the men who play it we're here to kick your ass
The song '100mph' by Cirith Ungol is a classic heavy metal anthem that celebrates the power and intensity of the genre. The lyrics talk about how heavy metal 'comes on hard and fast', and proclaims the band members as the ones who play it and are here to 'kick your ass'. The chorus speaks about how the band is like a hurricane, coming at full force at a hundred miles an hour, and they don't stop for anything because they have the power. The second verse talks about the band's fearless attitude, stating that their nerves are made of steel and they have ice in their veins. They are both frost and fire, bringing both pleasure and pain to the listeners.
Overall, the lyrics of '100mph' are straightforward and unapologetic, celebrating the aggressive and powerful nature of heavy metal. The band is portrayed as fearless and unstoppable, ready to unleash their music and dominate the world with their sound. The song is a testament to the energy and intensity of heavy metal music, and it remains a classic example of the genre.
Line by Line Meaning
Call it heavy metal comes on hard and fast
We play heavy metal, a hard and fast genre of music.
We're the men who play it we're here to kick your ass
As musicians of heavy metal, our goal is to impress and dominate through our music.
Coming like a hurricane a hundred miles an hour
Our heavy metal sound is coming at you with full force, as fast as a hurricane.
We don't stop for nothing cause we've got the power
We will not slow down our music as we believe in the power and energy of heavy metal.
Our nerves are made of steel and there's ice in our veins
We are fearless and tough, with no fear towards anything.
We're frost and we're fire we're pleasure and we're pain
Our music is a mix of opposites, like frost and fire, pleasure and pain.
Call it heavy metal comes on hard and fast
Once again, our music is heavy and fast-paced.
We're the men who play it we're here to kick your ass
As musicians, we have a strong attitude and believe in pursuing our goals with vigor and pride.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JERRY FOGLE, MIKE VUJEA, ROB GARVEN, TIM BAKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fektthis
Used to cover this in an old garage band I was in with a couple of my friends. It was the only Cirith Ungol song I could convince them to play. (I wanted to cover Chaos Descends) Anyhoo, I made them play it quite a bit faster than the album version. If I'm playing a song called 100mph I'm going to play it as fast as possible.
Rod Warren
This 100 mph. song is nothing compared to Cirith's King of the dead's Black Machine or many, many others that tottaly just rip ass. There's a whole lot of songs that would have made very good covers for your band. But in the end,, There's only one Cirith Ungol. The vocalist is truely one of a kind. I would like to hear what your voice version of Cirith's sounds like though. Send me a taste at warrenrod4@gmail.com. would be awesome to have vocals like that. Would make for a very kick ass set though if the rest of your band wasn't pussys when it comes to playing what would be some very bad ass sounding tunes if you got the voice down. Very badass indeed. Maybe you might consider another band to play with or couse im assuming your the vocalist. I watch Cirith in concert. And i just dream of having a voice like that. Fucking Awesome.!!
ForestForTheTrees
I always thought 100 MPH was a really good Cirith Ungol song, one of their top 10 and up there with Black Machine and Chaos Descends. I'm pretty sure it was written back in the 70s around the same time as a lot of their other classics.
TerroneByGraceOfGod
PURE RAW EPIC METAL!!!
The Red Zed
Oh wow, this is so good👊👊👊
Bohemius Le FrisK
awesome!!!! thanx again for the gr8 uploads! stay heavy my friend...\m/
Jim Maddison
This band deserved better
Alan Smith
Ah, always loved CU
sam smith
100 miles!
Roadhouse Blues
O yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa crith ungolllllllllllllllll fuckkk I'm listening to it since 80'Ssss regards from Turkiye!