UK Prog Rock outfit, THE TIRITH, return with a powerful new chapter, reaffirming their place in the modern prog scene. Their new single, Save The Oak, arrived on Friday 1st May, ahead of the album, Quetzalcoatl, out Friday 3rd July.  Blending progressive rock sensibilities with a contemporary edge, Quetzalcoatl finds THE TIRITH at their most cohesive and adventurous. Expansive arrangements, shifting dynamics, and intricate musicianship define the record, with influences ranging from folk and jazz to heavier rock woven into a distinct prog sound. 

With heavy themes of mysticism reaching back to ancient times, this expansive release brings a mosaic of philosophical storytelling from the furthest depths of the Universal Mind. THE TIRITH manages to bridge the gap between progressive rock and dark fantasy, so Lord of the Rings and even Fortnite enthusiasts should take note of this epic collection.

The band’s origins date back to the 1970s, and after a hiatus of 3 decades they reunited in 2010. Since reforming, the band have released 3 albums:  Tales from the Tower (2015), A Leap into the Dark (2019), and Return of the Lydia (2022), all noted for their conceptual scope and expressive guitar work. Now featuring a settled lineup, including drummer Paul Williams and keyboardist Anthony Hill, THE TIRITH have developed a tighter, more unified sound rooted in atmosphere, technicality, and storytelling.  With Quetzalcoattl, THE TIRITH deliver a confident and engrossing prog rock album, rich in scope, detail, and ambition while staying true to the spirit that first defined them.

Quetzalcoatl (“The Feathered Serpent”) is a major Mesoamerican deity representing wind, Venus, dawn, merchants and knowledge, he was central to Aztec, Toltec and Maya cultures. He symbolises the union of earth and sky, often depicted as a serpent covered in quetzal feathers. The legend also has it that he appeared as an old man with a long beard, who disappeared over the sea never to return. (Pronouced KET-suhl-koh-AHT-uhl)

The Tirith revisit the space theme they featured on their first album “Tales from the Tower”  and on “Return of the Lydia”. On Tales from the Tower we learnt about the adventures of a hapless band of space privateers as they explored the outer arm of the Galaxy. In the song Return of the Lydia we hear that they were originally sent into space to find and colonise new planets but reneged on the mission, eventually returning to earth and crash landing their spaceship, the Lydia. In “Back to Space” one of the spacemen is stranded in New York, his friends have all passed away and he is unable to adapt to the nightmare of city life. He decides that the only way for him is to go back to space. The song starts with a huge, dirty,  guitar riff from Tim, before a series of chaotic verses develop, and only at about 3 mins does the first chorus come in.

Rabbit Ings, With its nylon string acoustic guitar intro this a foray into a kind of Prog Folk rock with acoustic sections set against hard rock sections. Ings is a term of old Norse origin referring to marshy land or water meadows, still surviving in place names in Northern England. Dick Cory says that he used several place names tied together within the lyric. Flute? That’s Ant on keyboards.

Dancing With Vampires is a romantic waltz with a twist. The alluring female vampire, the fascination of her beauty and sweet perfume, but the danger is “…we turn as she sinks her teeth into my neck”!

No Mind (Mushin) explores the theme of the Japanese Zen-influenced mental state of “empty mind” or “thought-free” flow, often used in martial arts like Karate and Aikido. It represents a state of total presence, where action becomes intuitive, effortless, and free from ego, fear, or hesitation. The tune started as an improvisation which was further developed. 

To close the album a rock song. The lyrics to “The Riddles” contain many common riddles, you can solve them if you like. But M.O.A.I. is Malvolio’s riddle from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night for which there is no solution. The album plays out as ever with a guitar solo from Tim. M.O.A.I.

The Tirith – with the new album Quetzalcoatl this band are riding a wave of inspiration right now. The current line-up has gelled with each member playing their full part. The wide influences of the band have been brought to the fore showcasing a great variation in styles.  It is rock, heavy in places, with folk influences, jazz, country, prog and even a waltz with a twist.

Stream “Save the Oak” on Spotify.

Musician Names/Instruments:  Tim Cox, guitars (Tim is also responsible for arrangements, mixing and production), Dick Cory , vocals, bass, and acoustic guitar, Anthony Hill (Ant), keyboards, Paul Williams, drums and percussion.
Producer Name(s): Tim Cox

Tracklist:
1. Intro; 2. Quetzalcoatl; 3. The Slide; 4. Moon King; 5. Back to Space; 6. Rabbit Ings; 7. Dancing With Vampires; 8. Spirit of the Volcano; 9. Masters of Highways; 10. Save The Oak; 11. No Mind (Mushin); 12. The Riddles.

Websites:
Official Website: www.thetirith.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.Tirith
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6maMrnItmcybGcOkYqSQKT
Bandcamp: https://thetirith.bandcamp.com
Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/user/TheTirithBand

Artist Biography:

The Tirith –  with the new album Quetzalcoatl this band are riding a wave of inspiration right now. The current line-up has gelled with each of the four members playing their part to the full both on stage and on record. The wide influences of the band have been brought to the fore on the new album showcasing a great variation in styles.  It is basically rock, heavy in places, with folk influences here and there, jazz, country, prog and even a waltz with a twist.

Our Story:

The Tirith came together in 2010 and activity has been continuous since that date.   But the history of the band goes back a lot further than that.  Tim Cox and Dick Cory were friends at school who played together when pupils at Loughborough Grammar school.  Dick was more of a songwriter and Beatles influenced folkie, Tim was more of a guitar player who also came up with strange songs.  So imagine 2 boys facing each other playing acoustic guitars.  We still like to do that occasionally now. A band was formed in the 70s called Minas Tirith when we were just kids, (we were all into Tolkein at the time). But we were different, with two songwriters in the band we only ever performed original music, no covers right from the start.  We played gigs around Loughborough but no credible recordings were made at that time.  However many of the songs from this period were revived on our first album “Tales from the Tower” (2015) and a few have appeared since. Paul Williams our present drummer was also part of that early phase.

The early Minas Tirith phase didn’t last long, Dick went to University and the band split. There then followed a hiatus of over 30 years before we got back together in 2010. But what happened during those 30 years?  Tim Cox went on to become a professional musician and songwriter.  He was a member of several London based bands including,  Escape from New York, Fracture and Airstrip One, the latter having a cult following to this day. Eventually he moved in the direction of dance music and was part of the production and songwriting team “Band of Gypsies”.  They had major commercial success in the 90s with the Rozalla hits, including “Everybody’s Free (to Feel Good)” which is still a major dancefloor anthem.

Dick Cory carried on playing and writing during those 30 odd years and some of the songs he created during this period have been included on later Tirith albums. Tim and Dick stayed in touch and occasionally created music together.

The present phase of the band started in 2010 when we were brought together at the suggestion of drummer Paul Williams and became “The Tirith”. Initially concentrating on the original classic songs from the 70s, but then moving rapidly on to new material. This resulted in the first 3 albums;
“Tales from the Tower” (2015) which featured updated versions of the classic Minas Tirith songs from the 70s, and a few more recent songs, it had a space theme.

“A Leap into the Dark” (2019), which was all new material.

“Return of the Lydia” (2022), again new material, it revived the space theme from the 1st album in the title track, Return of the Lydia. The album is noteworthy for the lengthy guitar solos from Tim.
Since 2010 the band has had a fluid membership, but always at the core of the band has been the partnership of Tim Cox and Dick Cory. Drummer Paul Williams was with us from 2010 to 2012 but had to leave due to heavy commitments with other bands, he re-joined The Tirith in 2020. Carl Nightingale played drums from 2012 to 2020. Over the period we have had other keyboard players and at times no keyboard players with keyboard duties falling to both Tim and Dick on stage. The band really started to gel in its present form when Anthony Hill (Ant) joined us on keyboards in 2022.
Over the past 15 years The Tirith have played gigs in Sheffield, London, Leicester, Chesterfield, Loughborough, Nottingham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Scunthorpe, Rotherham, Darlington, Doncaster, Southampton, Darley Dale, Abingdon, Barnsley, Hull, and Bromsgrove.

We also played in Rotterdam, Holland.

In addition to this The Tirith have appeared at the following festivals, The Cambridge Rock Festival, Nene Valley Rock Festival (NVRF), HRH Prog VI North Wales, HRH Prog XIII Sheffield, Sonic Rock Solstice, Prog Rhino, Resonance (London), Fusion (Stourport), Prog for Peart (Abingdon), Dan Fest (Leicester).

We have supported Focus (twice), Karnataka, Gnidrolog (twice), Haze, and Paul Menell (ex IQ) on a short tour.