RINGWRAITHS

Zigor's version

Nazgul's version

Band:URUK HAI
Title: Ringwraiths
Format: Two bespoke versions of this release exist, created by Hugin for fans. One is a CDr/tape box-set complete with many accessories, the second is a cassette-only version. Details of the format and content are in the narrative. The box-set colour is predominantly white, the tape entirely black...
Edition: 1 copy only of each version

Track Listing (both copies):
01. Ringwaiths 13:13

So ... the back-story is this: back in March Nazgul covered the online compilation "Tales From The Catacombs Vol. 1", which contained the Uruk Hai song 'Ringwraiths'.

Nazgul's succinct commentary on this track was as follows,'After some subterranean sounding crashes and bangs, a choir of unhappy souls pipe up a dirge whilst sombre and melancholy musical misery abounds! None of your tinkling bells and shimmering cascades of keyboards for this outing. The song continues with an augmentation of male choirs, some cavernous percussion and then deep blasphemous vocals vaguely reminiscent of those of Spanish black metal band Lugburg, sans lisp. Parping keyboards add a somewhat regal air, and in a nutshell there you have it.'

Well, I'd stand by that description, but what isn't going to be well known (or, indeed, known at all) is that there are actually two quite different and unique copies of "Ringwraiths" that exist as releases in their own right. They were not commercially released, mind you: these copies are held by two of Hugin's most fanatical followers - Zigor, in Spain, who runs the Extreme Ambient website, and your favourite overlord of the dark domains, Nazgul.

Both releases are very different from one another. Zigor's is an expansive box-set of goodies, for which most of the remainder of this post is dedicated to cataloguing and making sense of! Nazgul's version is a small, black tape version, similarly bespoke and hand-crafted by our favourite Austrian.

So....before we get into a photo-fest of biblical scale, let us call upon Zigor for a few words of his own about his version of "Ringwraiths":

'Upon opening the box, you realise that by design, our dear friend Hugin has sought to give an importance to both the ring and the colour white. This can be confirmed after reviewing each and every one of the items included in the box (by far the biggest I own). But it's after discovering the job title, Ringwraiths (related to dark), when we realise that everything is closely related to each other: the light (the white), the ring and darkness (Ringwraith). The design may seem simple, but I will say that I like it a lot and the black logo fits very well with the ring.

As for the music, we will see that only one song is included in this release, the one that gives the title to the work. It is 13 minutes long and in it, we will find that is composed by some epic parts (with percussion, strings and winds) perfectly merged with parts with guitar and a dark voice. This whole gives an essence which perfectly fits the concept of the box, where the epic part can be related with the white and the guitar and voice parts can be related with the dark.'

Wise words indeed. And now you've had the thoughts of us both on the music, let us consider the individual elements within the two releases, starting with Zigor's gargantuan box-set:

Here is the actual box-set itself, from the outside: