The Ominous Circle finally emerges from the shadows to unveil its second album.
Formed in Portugal in 2014 and discovered three years later with their debut album on Osmose Productions, the band consists of SL (vocals, Legacy of Brutality), MS (guitar, Dementia 13), AC (guitar, Holocausto Canibal), ZP (bass, Dementia 13, Holocausto Cannibal), and MA (drums, Axia, SMRT) unveils Cloven Tongues of Fire in 2025.
Thus Beckons the Abyss welcomes us with a rather disturbing sound that seems to silently warn us before the arrival of Lowest Immanations, a first wave of openly dissonant and suffocating darkness even before vocals kick in, further reinforcing the heaviness of the sound. The jerky riffs and piercing leads also contribute to accentuating the majestic yet disturbing impression, which breaks down as it accelerates and becomes more raw before finally giving way to chaos to join Through Tunnels Ablaze, where the rhythm immediately ignites. The track is very aggressive, even offering a powerful bass/drum passage before bringing back the more soaring harmonics, then returning to its unhealthy heaviness complemented by percussion to accompany us to In Ira Flammae Devoratur Qui Salvatur, which allows us a brief moment of respite. The dark and tortured melodies hover beside us, then abandon us to let Black Flesh, Sulfur and All in Between take over, first at a brisk pace, then at a much more moderate rhythm conducive to oppression, but which will eventually rub off on the accelerations and occult roars of the vocalist between two waves of devastating instrumentals. The band follows up with the somewhat too quiet introduction of Writhing, Upturning, Succumbing, which gently plunges us back into darkness before we are once again overwhelmed and tossed about by jerky, explosive riffs in which heaviness and energetic patterns take turns assaulting us relentlessly. Utterance of the Formless takes over from the raging waves to offer us furious melodies, but also drums that are sometimes a little more elaborate than a wall of blast beats, but the track is long and allows itself to slowly develop thick passages filled with screams before the song completely surrenders to madness, through its leads and final eruption.
Although very discreet, The Ominous Circle makes each release a real event within the Black Metal scene, and Cloven Tongues of Fire is no exception to the rule, as the album is so occult and oppressive.
90/100
