Who remembers CIRITH UNGOL? Not from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy- "Its name was Cirith Ungol, a name of dreadful rumour" ("Two Towers") - but the Heavy Metal band that emerged from Ventura, California in the way back of 1971. Their album covers were typically adorned with high fantasy depictions of a warrior who looks more like Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné than anything out of Tolkien. But other than me, who's that geeky to notice? At any rate, as most metal enthusiasts know, the band disbanded in 1992, released some rarities from 1992 - 2016, and then reformed in 2016. Some four years later, in 2020, they released their comeback album, "Forever Black." And there was much rejoicing. Then did ensue the pandemic and there was much gnashing of teeth . . . but lo, on May 28, 2021 the band will release a four-track EP called "Half Past Human." More rejoicing.

The EP comprises four tracks, but these aren't ordinary tracks. "The band dug deep into their archival crypts, drawing back the veiled mists of history to expose long-forgotten jewels from their storied past." Yep, these are previously unreleased tracks, rerecorded and reimagined. As their promo material states, they are "injected with a fresh dose of power and vitality while preserving their trademark mysticism and remaining drenched in sinister, apocalyptic energy." Fair enough words from their PR agent, but how do these tracks actually stack up?

I'm glad to say, they totally kick ass. So, let's click through them one by one. The EP kicks off with "Route 666." This is one of those cautionary tales about someone's fateful demise and ultimate damnation with hints of wicked doings and dread wanderings. This is classic Heavy Metal kitsch and it rules. Next up is "Shelob's Lair." Geeks like me will know the link between the band's moniker and this title - e.g., Cirith Ungol is Sindarin (made up Tolkien language) for "spider's cleft" or "spider's pass," which is where Shelob, the big-ass spider, dwells. This is a fat five-minute track with a killer solo that will make you fall in love with epic Heavy Metal all over again.

"Brutish Manchild." Okay, confession: Before I read the title, I thought they were chanting "brutish metal," which I thought was a play on "British metal," which I thought was nod to the whole NWOBH phenomenon. Now that I realize my mistake . . . well, the real title kind of creeps me out, but the song is solid. The final track, "Half Past Human," is also the title-track and is also the longest. I need this title to have a hyphen. Will someone please call the copyeditor at Metal Blade, my OCD is killing me. Anywho, this track has a slow, classic opener and is the most Doom track on the album. Good stuff.

More confessions. I just read some more promo material and found out the album cover was done by acclaimed fantasy artist, Michael Whelan . . . aka the guy that did the original Elric art. Damn, I hate being right. Yep, such a geek. End analysis: "Half Past Human" is awesome. I loved it. Total blast of archetypal metal that fueled generations of metalheads and still rocks. Man, I needed this album and so do you. Go out and buy it. And then get the t-shirt and get your WoW or D&D on or read a Michael Moorcock book and relish in the days of blood and glory. Also, just found the Rockpalast 2018 video of CIRITH UNGOL (Rock Hard Festival in Gelsenkirchen, Germany) online. Going to dig on this for a while. Later.