Cirith Ungol
One Foot In Hell

One foot in hell, Cirith Ungol had in practice throughout their entire career. Ignored by the audience, mistreated by their own record label, destined never to reap the fruits of their creativity, they have represented the darkest side, the tormented and decadent soul of the '80s U.S. epic metal scene.

Under the guidance of Jerry Fogle, a brilliant and visionary guitarist, the Ventura band managed to paint with vivid solemnity soundscapes imbued with degenerate malice, suffocating yet exhilarating for the listener, frescoes of proud and never banal epicness, into which multiple sources of inspiration, musical and otherwise, have flowed: first and foremost, the hard rock and psychedelia of the seventies, which should be credited with having bastardized the typical heavy metal sound, giving it a visionary and sick aftertaste (listen to, among other things, the decidedly "acid" sound of the guitars), but also the NWOBHM lesson, to which, at least in the second phase of their discography, Cirith Ungol have paid due tribute, furthermore without giving up anything in terms of personality and originality.

The real added value, however, in my opinion, was the choice to dip their music in that boundless fatalism, with that sort of "cosmic pessimism" that pervades the saga of the antihero Elric, the Moocock's albino prince of Melniboné, born weak in a body unsuited to contain his fury, forced to link his destiny with that of the black sword Stormbringer (in Italian, with a questionable translation, "Tempestosa"), capable of nourishing, with the souls of its victims, anyone who brandishes it. The theater of Elric's deeds is a land devastated by human depravity, where very little space can be found for positive feelings: a hallucinatory and evil picture (among other things, excellently reproduced by the artwork of the great Michael Whelan), which ended up infecting the band's sound with lysergic and paranoid hints, leading it, most of the time, towards a profoundly decadent and fatalistic doom.

It is precisely in this context that the indispensability of the legendary Tim Baker emerges: a singer unique in his kind, endowed with a hoarse, yet very high-pitched voice, a performer perennially over the top (thanks also to an excessive use of reverb), sometimes, it must be said, anything but pleasant. His singing is pure pain coerced into vocal lines, his timbre and screams the true both bane and blessing of the Cirith Ungol sound: chilling and irresistible to the enthusiasts, as much as ridiculous and annoying to the detractors, has always represented the true hallmark of the band, remaining, over the decades, inimitable and unrivaled.

All this can be found in "One Foot in Hell", released in 1986, in an America shaken by the Bay Area thrash delirium, three years away from what many consider Fogler and company's masterpiece: "King Of The Dead" ('83). With this album, the group decides to slightly smooth out the roughness of their musical approach: the more inherently doom sounds of the previous record are now flanked by faster-paced and more "classic" moments and songs. The opener "Blood And Iron", practically a classic Maiden-esque gallop in epic-horror style, the mid-tempo "War Eternal" (the riffing of which vaguely recalls some things from Rainbow), and even the weakest track of the package, "100 Mph", are clear examples of the band's desire to step on the accelerator, to increase the pace of their production, perhaps in the (vain) attempt to align their musical offer with the audience's tastes. The result, although lacking that tragic and anguished aura that characterized past songs, is decidedly good: Fogle is an exceptional guitarist (and the concluding solo of "War Eternal" is the most striking proof of this) and, in general, the whole band demonstrates a certain ease even in more traditional settings.

But it is only when the rhythms slow down that the gates of hell seem to truly open to let masterpieces emerge: "Doomed Planet", the title track "One Foot In Hell", the chaotic "The Fire" are swamps of hate and sadism where the band seems to find its natural environment, the most fertile ground to soundtrack the apocalypse. And it is precisely in this framework that all the musical value of Cirith Ungol seems to want to condense into two songs: "Chaos Descends" and "Nadsokor". The first, a funeral march for humanity with solid and hypnotic riffing, will remain among the highest points of the band's entire production. The second is simply among the most beautiful metal songs ever written: a sonic cathedral, founded on a drum attack that grows like the fury of a marching army, on an effective and exhilaratingly simple riff, devastated by Baker's screams, reduced to rubble by the intertwining guitars in the inspired final solo. The very concept of heavy metal is concentrated in 4:44 of hate and melody, pain and passion: indispensable for anyone wanting to listen to this genre.

The curse of Cirith Ungol also ended up affecting "One Foot In Hell". Legends tell that, to pay for the recording studio, Baker and company were forced to work as door-to-door cosmetic sellers, the album, once released, did not achieve the success it would have deserved, and the band had to wait a full five years, and survive the departure of Fogle and the charismatic bassist Flint, before seeing the release of another ill-fated masterpiece of their discography ("Paradise Lost" of '91, penalized by a distribution barely more than local).

On August 20, 1998, due to liver failure, Jerry Fogle passed away. It is said that to pay for his medical expenses he had to sell all the memorabilia he had left from the glorious times of Cirith Ungol.