Obscure death metal band from Portugal. Spawned in 2014, The Ominous Circle released its debut album “APPALLING ASCENSION” in 2017. Receiving excellent reviews in various publications (Decibel 8/10, Legacy 12/15, Deaf Forever 8.5/10, Zero Tolerance 4.5/6, among others), The Ominous Circle took their first album through stages all over the world, playing in such countries as the USA (New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Virginia), Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal,…
Appearances in festivals as Covenant Festival (Canada), Migration Fest (USA), Netherlands Deathfest (Netherlands), Path of Death (Germany) and SWR Barroselas Metalfest (Portugal), a East Coast USA tour and a partial European tour with Mayhem in 2018 helped establish a name and solidify its identity into what would become the sophomore album “CLOVEN TONGUES OF FIRE”, to be released in November 2025.
The Ominous Circle - Discography (2017 - 2025) (MP3 320Kbps)
Cloven Tongues of Fire (2025) 1.Thus Beckons the Abyss 00:59
2.Lowest Immanations 08:14
3.Through Tunnels Ablaze 07:54
4.In Ira Flammae Devoratur Qui Salvatur 01:37
5.Black Flesh, Sulfur, and All in Between 07:18
6.Writhing, Upturning, Succumbing 06:30
7.Utterance of the Formless 09:50
Released November 28, 2025
In a long overdue return, Portugal's The Ominous Circle rise again from the mist with their sophomore album "Cloven Tongues of Fire", a deeper descent into the great, endless chasms. A maelstrom of fire and relentless chaos that defies everything in this age of empty standards and sterile paradigms, the new full-length effort represents their darkest, most intense and uncompromising manifest to date, both a witness to the wickedness of iniquity and a tribute to the arts of the extreme.
Sophisticated yet raw, dynamic and fierce, presenting a different approach to songwriting while continuing the path of 2017's acclaimed "Appalling Ascension", "Cloven Tongues of Fire" delivers 43 minutes of black-infused Death metal with monolithic slabs of doom. A defaced abomination of low-tuned impious riffing, dissonant patterns and wildfire rhythms, from the manic blasting of “Through Tunnels Ablaze” to the gargantuan epic that is “Utterance of the Formless”, forming a tome of Dark Death Metal necromancy.
Its organic production harks back to ancient times and is crowned with Dan Lowndes’ mastering magic to forge an opus of filth, blood and venom where new elements merge with old facets to spawn an opus of labyrinthine shapes and blaze-laden cacophony. Unapologetic and confrontational, "Cloven Tongues of Fire" is a testimony of the awe-inspiring splendour of Death.
Appalling Ascension (2017) 1.Heart Girt With A Serpent 04:12
2.From Endless Chasms 06:14
3.Poison Fumes 07:37
4.Ateg Gibor Le-Olam Adonai 02:39
5.A Gray Outcast 06:53
6.to En 05:59
7.As The Worm Descends 07:55
8.Consecrating His Mark 10:12
Released January 27, 2017
Comprised of membership from the blinding light regions of Portugal, The Ominous Circle is a burning black sphere of sinuous torment taking shape over their native land. ‘Appalling Ascension’ is the Circle's initiation into this upper physical world, undulating like a prophesied curse into the increasing chaos of modern ‘life’.
While the reverent tropes of nowadays Death Metal will be recognizable to Circle adherents, the cauldron is mixed in myriad conjurations that stray from the retreating safety inferior forces are prone to linger in. Moments of oppressive Death Doom, grinding blasts of mania, rancid melodies and mid-tempo dynamic necromancy on tracks like ‘From Endless Chasms and ‘As The Worm Descends’ canonize these odious psalms into timeless lore.
The late obsession of some to ignore songwriting in favor of cavernous ambient suffocating “evil” doesn’t play on ‘Appalling Ascension’ - here instead, and most welcome, are crushing and barbarous Dark Death Metal songs for initiates to devote themselves to, and to enter into the pantheon of most memorable debut recordings. And in the fashion of the most auspicious horror, this is only the beginning…
Released by 20 Buck Spin in North America, and Osmose Productions in Europe.
BAND
Z.P. Bass (2014-present)
See also: Dementia 13, Grunt, Holocausto Canibal, Law of Contagion, ex-Under Fetid Corpses (live), ex-Fetal Incest, Spinning Torso, The Anti-Frog Project, ex-Axia, ex-Serrabulho (live), ex-Skinning (live), ex-Stuprum Dei, ex-C.R.U.D.
M.A. Drums (2014-present)
See also: Axia, Norunda, SMRT, Solid Spectrum (live), ex-Oblique Rain, ex-W.A.K.O., ex-Bloodhunter, ex-Colosso, ex-Grunt, ex-Basement Torture Killings (live), ex-Heavenwood (live), ex-Holocausto Canibal (live), ex-Crisix (live)
A.C. Guitars (2014-present)
See also: Holocausto Canibal, ex-Hacksaw, ex-Colosso, ex-Grunt (live)
M.S. Guitars (2014-present)
See also: Dementia 13, Pitch Black, ex-Biolence
S.L. Vocals (2014-present)
See also: Legacy of Brutality, ex-Replica (live)
/ XBTT (1) by Dejavu
