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THE OMINOUS CIRCLE - Cloven Tongues of Fire
Available Nov 28 via Osmose Productions - The Ominous Circle return with Cloven Tongues of Fire, a record that wastes no time reminding you how hostile and unadorned their world is. Nothing here leans on nostalgia or trend. The band works in a narrow, deliberate frame with low tuned guitars, blunt rhythmic pressure, and a sense of scale that comes from sheer physical force rather than theatrical posturing. What separates this album from their debut isn’t polish or ambition, but control. They’ve stopped circling their own ideas and started cutting straight through them.
“Lowest Immanations” sets the tone with a slow, scraping ascent that eventually caves into black death aggression. “Through Tunnels Ablaze” drives deep, refusing to break tension even at full velocity. Instead of stacking chaos on top of chaos, the band locks into a grim internal logic that holds the whole thing upright.
The turning point comes with “Black Flesh, Sulfur, and All in Between.” The track’s long, stretched movements give the riffs room to twist into shape, and the percussion pushes against the guitar lines instead of following them. It’s the most confident writing they’ve done, proof that the band isn’t interested in hiding behind dissonance, they know exactly where they want each fracture to land.
The closer, “Utterance of the Formless,” ties the record together with patience and weight. Its near ten minute sprawl never drags, feeling like the album’s gravitational center pulling everything back into view.
The production holds the raw sound without collapsing into swamp territory, and the mastering leaves enough room for the instruments to breathe while still sounding oppressive. Cloven Tongues of Fire refines, tightens, and commits. For this band, that’s the real shift.
8/10
Words by Fuego Casa
In collaboration with Headbangers Australia