“THE SOLE PURPOSE OF THIS ENDEAVOUR IS TO QUENCH THE FIRE WITHIN US AND FUEL OUR NEVERENDING RESTLESSNESS” – A.C. (THE OMINOUS CIRCLE)

The unmistakably adversarial current coursing with such intoxicating intent through every filament of ‘Cloven Tongues of Fire’ is of a scale and nature that cannot be faked or imitated. Advocating transcendence through ascension, adversary and the inebriated ignition of infernal flames of purification, this is death necromancy stripped of ego or earthly fallibility. As an inglorious cacophony of indubitably inhuman utterances storms the heavens, harrowing riffage segues seductively into uninhibited, frenzied solos, and pummelling percussion provides the pulse – serving a prime purpose in leading the charge as well as maintaining momentum – one-fifth of this accursed quintet, A.C., discusses scorching the sanctified and overthrowing ‘the order of deceit’.

Second The Ominous Circle full-length abomination ‘Cloven Tongues of Fire’ represents at once a timely shot across the bows of an ailing underground and a fitting soundtrack to the twisted times we live in. Were these the kind of considerations or motivations that provoked you to create or channel this immense manifestation of audial abhorrence?
“The motivation is always the same: intense devotion to extreme music and the dark arts. Although it had been slowly taking shape since the previous opus ‘Appalling Ascension’ was released, the truth is the vision and main ‘skeleton’ for this album was fully on my mind since that very moment. Our relationship with music is a spiritual one. We are not moved by commercial interests and promotional deadlines. Music has a metaphysical element that we deeply respect and feel we have the obligation of preserving against everything else.
“There is something utterly magical about it… that restlessness that takes over you when the inspiration strikes and the vision starts to take its form. Whatever you do, wherever you go, no matter what happens around you, the vision is constantly there. That being said, we always knew we wanted to take the foundations of ‘Appalling Ascension’ to create an album of labyrinthine shapes, dissonant riffing and suffocating atmosphere, even though that might not be the obvious direction from the first album. We wanted to make something different, darker and unpredictable, but at the same time very naturally flowing. The result lies in front of you.”

Sometimes slower is heavier… Musically, the pacing and structure of ‘Cloven Tongues of Fire’ is incredibly well-balanced and satisfying. While there is no shortage of violence and vitriol, you are not reliant on speed or aggression but instead harness a foreboding atmosphere through a more restrained, accomplished and oftentimes doom-y approach, with myriad gear changes and ample variety, all of which demonstrates very strong songwriting proficiency. Is generating the right atmosphere one of your main focuses when composing music?
“Isn’t that what art should be all about? To fire emotions, to intensify passions and to push the listener to take that small step into the unknown. So yes, that is the main focus when writing music. But although it may seem that something like this takes a lot of thought and planning, the truth is it all comes down to one simple thing: to follow the riff.
“Again, it comes down to that supernatural / metaphysical higher state that allows you to sense it, to feel it and almost touch it. Preserving the essence, energy and commands of the riff is in fact our main focus when writing music, the rest just follows from that point. No limits, no structure nor time restrictions, absolutely nothing but what the riff’s energy demands. Which I can agree that in this era of disposable music and pre-vetted algorithmical musical creation can indeed be odd… to say the least.” This devotion to extreme music and the dark arts that you allude to is clearly palpable on the new record, which draws upon myriad influences yet – in an impressive and rare feat of supreme musical alchemy – manages to conjure something surprisingly fresh and unique. In the end, despite honouring others (be that consciously or subconsciously), The Ominous Circle sounds only like The Ominous Circle. How much stock do you place on forging your own distinctive style and sound (albeit subtly and within a limited soundfield), and how have you been able to achieve this unlikely outcome?
“While we do obviously honour the Old Gods of the extreme arts as much as everyone else, the fact is when we write music we are totally focused on delivering it to ourselves only. As strange as it may sound, we are its main recipients. We write the music we like for our own passion and pleasure. This naturally requires a humble, honest and down-to-earth spirit, to be someone who doesn’t want to fit in, to follow trends or to participate in the ‘spotifyzation’ of modern music.
“And that’s what makes extreme music what it really is: true devotion to art, complete and unlimited freedom of expression, full rejection of industry standards and commercial outputs. The sole purpose of this endeavour is to quench the fire within us and fuel our neverending restlessness. If, in the end, it sounds distinctive, that’s probably because of this approach. Truth is, we neither thought of copying others nor focused on doing something unique. We just did what we wanted and what we felt was right.”

Interesting that you mention the magical quality of music – an elevated artform granted to us by the gods possessing the power to intoxicate, captivate and recalibrate those caught within its potent spell – because there is an inherently ritualistic quality to ‘Cloven Tongues of Fire’. It is evident in how the songs are weaved together, in how the instruments and voices interact … present not just in the flow and flourish of the music but also in the spaces between. In its purest essence, is this ritual through music?
“Absolutely, as all art should be: ritualistic, cathartic, introspective and provocative. Otherwise it’s not art. And I honestly think such a result is obtained by simply letting yourself be dominated by that indescribable and untranslatable deep state of mind that you may be subjected to once inspiration appears. Anything that is honest is meaningful. The way everything is entranced, and how everything interacts and evolves in our music… that is just what resulted from that energy-flow. And it couldn’t be any other way. So the ritualistic essence in our work is present even before the music appears.”The ritualistic effect or impact is reinforced and enhanced by recurring refrains and repetition, not unlike how a sorcerer might chant a spell or cast a curse. Is this technique of emphasis through reiteration – inducing both verbal and musical mantras – utilised specifically to achieve this very outcome, or is it simply how you like to (or are inclined to) craft songs?
“Every song spawns an image. The texture of the song creates visual stimulation, which in us translates immediately into a ‘painting’ or a sequence of images. And the first takes on lyrics always come from those particular images that materialize once the song is complete. So, the main focus is actually to capture that image and its essence. Then comes the concept, and then the lyrics. This is the whole idea and the modus operandi: putting those images into words, while building the concept.
“The repetitions are indeed placed to create that aura and to reinforce those particular images, as we believe that producing a visual effect through words can result in impactful emotions that carve the ideas and concepts deep in the mind of the listener, and that’s what we strive to achieve. I understand that may be strange, as most artists put great efforts into planning lyrics through a musical approach, counting metrics and creating melodies and vocal patterns, but that’s not how we work. If it sounds musical or – should I say – ‘musically’ logical, that’s because S.L. is a master in its craft and has always been able to somehow make it work without the need to adapt the lyrics.”

How much automatic or unconscious writing is involved in such a refreshing, unorthodox and obsessive compositional process? Would you consider yourself to be patient, willing vessels – servants of darkness, slaves to the riff – for the conjured manifestations more so than active creators? Or is there a perfect balance somewhere in between? Invocation through intuition…
“It’s unconscious in the sense that no ‘concrete’ riffs or melodies are transposed from your mind to the guitar. I mean, the riffs do not appear in its final or even approximate form in your mind and then it’s just a matter of taking the time of transposing them to the guitar. No. The ideas flow in your mind, you know what you want, you know what the song needs but you don’t know exactly how it will appear. Sometimes it happens automatically and passively, as it was with the first album: the riffs just kept manifesting and the album was fully written in just a couple of months. Everything just flowed directly from the mind to the hands: just imagine feeling the urge to create, picking up your guitar and the right riffs, the right patterns and the right structures just appearing out of nowhere.
“With this album it was different, the commands were there, and we had to actively pursue the right paths to materialize them, which indeed took a lot of patience, as we didn’t want to force anything. You know the characteristics of the building you want to erect, you know exactly how it will be, you just don’t know how. That was the kind of planning it took for the second album. So yes, invocation through intuition is spot-on!”Never does the album meander or waver. Rather, it courses with immense urgency and purpose through mental and musical labyrinths, flowing organically and undeviatingly from beginning to end. The flow is so natural it feels like the opening riff on ‘Lowest Immanations’ could well have been the first one conceived. Was this the case, or what was the seminal riff and / or song out of which the complete ‘Cloven Tongues of Fire’ was manifested?
“‘Lowest Immanations’ was actually the last song to be completed, and one of the reasons it took so long to finish this album. Half of the song was done one year before we concluded the writing process but the right following just kept on not appearing, and those remained the missing pieces of the puzzles for a long, long time. However, like I told you before, the architectural plan for this album was already on my mind so we kind of knew beforehand where all pieces would be placed. That’s probably why it feels so natural.
“Anyway, the first riffs to appear this time were the ones in ‘Writhing, Upturning, Succumbing’, a song that was completed very fast in comparison to the other ones. And in my personal opinion that’s why it’s the one the catches the feeling of “Appaling Ascension” the most. Somehow I sense that it could fit in that album perfectly.”

Sounds like ‘Writhing, Upturning, Succumbing’ serves an important dual purpose, as both an inherent part of the new record and a gateway to / from the previous one. Once you have successfully completed a work to the satisfaction of all parties – band members and the force that guides you – does the aforementioned restlessness subside or cease, or does it forever persist (and perhaps apply to more pursuits than creating the music)? Is it there now, mere months after the release of ‘Cloven Tongues of Fire’? Is there an insatiable urge to conduct some live ceremonies? Has a riff or vision manifested or presented itself yet for a potential future opus?
“I think it is different from album to album. Although we knew what we wanted to do on a second album right after ‘Appalling Ascension’ was done, the restlessness was somewhat in deep slumber and we took the opportunity to just distance ourselves from that album in order to clear our minds, to lay the ground for when the time to sit and write another album came. We focused on playing live, rather than writing music. But it didn’t take long until the restlessness took over … as we had just kind of ‘forced’ it to remain asleep. For this album the case is different as the restlessness is still dominant and yes, there is already a clear vision of what to do next, and even a few riffs.
“I doubt we will start working on something anytime soon, but the truth is the next album is already roaring inside our minds. We might do what we did before and just keep feeding and holding it until the right time comes. For live ceremonies the case is different. While we do like to play live, we are always somewhat selective of the shows we play. The right mindset has to be in place, the right aura, the right conditions. Every ritual takes psychological and sometimes even physical parts from us. It consumes us in ways that are hard to explain and even harder to understand, something between penance and liberation. It takes a toll on you.”