Cirith Ungol - All The Shadows

Cirith Ungol announced farewell shows in 2024, and by most accounts that was supposed to be the end of one of the strangest and most stubborn careers in American heavy metal. Instead, the Ventura legends are back with All The Shadows, a new studio album that shows they still have plenty to say.

Named after a location in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the band built its sound on dark fantasy and apocalyptic imagery, pairing Black Sabbath heaviness with the adventurous structures of progressive hard rock. Tim Baker's raw, high, emotionally charged voice has always set them apart. The eight songs here, from the commanding title track to the closer "Venus in Thirds," lean into the doom-laden riffing, ominous melodies and epic songwriting that defined the band from the start.

Cirith Ungol spent years as a cult act, misunderstood in their own time, before records like Frost and Fire and King of the Dead were recognized as cornerstones of American epic metal. All The Shadows builds on that classic identity rather than chasing anything new, and it sounds like a band that knows exactly who it is.

This edition is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl.