Cirith Ungol, “Forever Black.” My impulse buy of the week was a 40th anniversary re-release of Metal Blade Records’ first Metal Massacre compilation record, a collection of some of the hottest new metal artists of the year. There’s probably nobody you’ve heard of on the record unless you’re into the Los…

Only one year after Black Sabbath’s debut birthed the genre, Cirith Ungol began pushing boundaries in Ventura. Considered an early player in both doom and power metal, the band’s obsession with Tolkienic sword-and-sorcery blazed a trail for much of metal as it’s known today. The band’s 20-year initial run…