This is quite possibly their best work, Cirith had gotten heavier over the first two albums and at this point there is very little of the 70s rock coming out in the sound. Gritty heavy metal with gritty lyrics based on dark fantasy themes. Cirith Ungol have never been pretended to be flashy, they play metal at a mid to almost doom tempo that really captures their power well. The song "Blood & Iron" which opens the album is a true classic of 80s metal, which seems to be a jaunt about orcs or some other nonhuman species going to war on mankind. Other catchy tunes are "Chaos Descends", "Doomed Planet" and "The Fire". This is an album that fans of Warcraft and D&D would be proud of, and an album that true metallers would be even more proud of. It represents the very finest of what heavy metal was supposed to be 14 years ago, and probably serves as a reminder of those elements metal is missing in this new millennial heyday of synthesizers, excessive female vocals, cloned riffs and massive over-production.

© 2000 pizarro