King of the Dead is the second album by Cirith Ungol

Cirith Ungol (band)

Cirith Ungol was a Californian heavy metal band who formed in 1972 and split up in May 1992. They drew influences from other metal groups such as Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, as well as Iggy and the Stooges...

. It was produced by Cirith Ungol and released July 1984 on Enigma Records

Enigma Records

Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. It was initially a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, which it split-off from in 1985 to become its own company...

. It was re-released September 1999 on Metal Blade Records

Metal Blade Records

Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...

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Robert Garven in an interview:

King of the Dead was our best album, the reason was that we had total control over it. Every album could have been this good if we could have exercised complete control over its production and other things. This is the album which I feel is our best effort. The reason the long wait between albums is because when you are financing them yourselves, you have to come up with the money to pay for things like studio time. Plus being on all these independent labels their time tables are slower. I also did all the layout and design of the first three covers, all this while we were all working full time trying to sponsor the dream.

Greg Lindstrom, who left the band two years prior to this album - 1982, says:

"Atom Smasher", "Cirith Ungol", and "Death of the Sun" were all songs we had written together in the mid 70's, and "Finger of Scorn" was one of my songs that the band used with my blessing.

Another Michael Moorcock

Michael Moorcock

Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....

 inspired drawing acts as the album's cover: it is entitled "King of the Dead" and was painted by Michael Whelan

Michael Whelan

Michael Whelan is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years he worked as an illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art...

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Track listing

All songs written by Cirith Ungol

Cirith Ungol (band)

Cirith Ungol was a Californian heavy metal band who formed in 1972 and split up in May 1992. They drew influences from other metal groups such as Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, as well as Iggy and the Stooges...

, except where noted.

1. "Atom Smasher" 4:12
2. "Black Machine" 4:16
3. "Master of the Pit" 7:09
4. "King of the Dead" 6:49
5. "Death of the Sun" 3:54
6. "Finger of Scorn" (Greg Lindstrom) 8:34
7. "Toccata in Dm
   Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
   The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire, and has been used in a variety of popular media ranging from film, video games, to rock music, and ringtones...
   
   " (Johann Sebastian Bach) 4:37
8. "Cirith Ungol" 6:24
9. "Last Laugh" (Live
   Recorded live track
   A recorded live track is a song or audio sequence recorded from live performances .Live song tracks typically have concert hall noise . Though often less precise than practiced, studio recordings, live recordings may offer a more exciting feel...
   
   bonus track only on remastered version) 4:22

Personnel

• Tim Baker - Vocals
• Robert Garven - Drums, Percussion
• Jerry Fogle - Guitars
• Michael Vujea - Bass