A webzine like RMR gets a ton of review requests every day of the week, Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays included. And this often leads to difficult decisions about what and who to review. So, once a first selection is made and the files are secured in the review vault, things start to go South. Priorities take over, good records may get the cold shoulder, and – suddenly – the end of the year is here and we just missed out on a memorable piece or twelve. Thus, more decisions need to be made and some select few records will get the very late treatment. And one of these albums is Omnivortex‘s Circulate. So, let’s get on with it – the clock’s ticking, and an avalanche of 2024 pieces are already at the gates.
First, we’ll forever be attracted by vortices, any weird type of ’em. That’s one irresistible special RMR Law ov Metal Physicks. Second, what is an omnivortex? We know about omnivores, but that’s – supposedly – not quite the same. And then, how does the somewhat spacey album cover relate to the band name? Ah, all these unanswered questions that made us twirl the record on our music machine. Even if the old year is already gone.
But, it is this snazzy mix of tech death and prog that finally got ahold of our eardrums. Not that this is something astoundingly new, far from it. What is special, though, is the high-octane intensity by which Circulate spews forth like one of those avalanches up in the Alps. Already Transforming To Pale Mist and its tech death prowess establishes Omnivortex as a force to reckon with. But once Of Aeons Past and its rough-hewn groove take off, things move seriously up the ladder. You’ll find some weird breaks into some sort of prog that caught our attention. And how could it not?
Then, suddenly, the record sprouts some squeaky but astute solos that spew forth from the rhythm section. It’s all a ferocious and complex affair that often comes with a pounding bass worse than a headache after two pints of vodka. And at times the record develops that look and feel of Abiotic‘s samurai excursions. Perhaps not at the level of feistiness of the latter but it’s sometimes getting close.
Yet, sadly, the B side of Circulate starts to lose some serious juice. Mechanical Motions – for instance – could have gone the way that late James Bond movie went. Out with a mighty bang on a far-off base in the ocean. But it didn’t do that, no progression or further excitement far and wide. And even playing the music backward at the end won’t help. It’s like Nickelback, if you play it forward you hear Omnivortex. And the other way around, the devil plays a lusty tune.
Ultimately, Circulate contains a ton of great material that roars forth proficiently on a string of savvily written tracks. Albeit that some bloat injected itself into many of the tracks – not too much but still enough to remember. Methinks also that the search for this elusive and smooth techy groove lets the band meander about soundscape after yet another frantically played soundscape a tad too much. And this renders much of the record somewhat tiring after a while. And thus, the RMR crew wasn’t quite able to drum up that enthusiasm many other metalheads developed for this album.
However, Circulate is technically astute, no doubt about it. It is a sturdy, well-written, relentless, and straight-in-yer-face slab of metal. Executed by pros in their prime with energy to spare. Yet, the apparent fatty parts in some sections took away a lot of the brisk crispness that’s so important for a record of that caliber. And that is also the reason why this record continually found itself at the tail-end of our review pipe. Until it was too late to make it onto any of our year-end lists, that is.
Yet, it still is and will remain a robust, gnarly, no-nonsense piece that found a lot of praise in the metal community in 2023. And rightly so. Only, they can do better, much better. Next time.
Ed’s note: Also, check out the Blasts from the Past list for 2024. Juicy and old content awaits you there.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Inverse Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 20 September 2023