Where nightmares and reality intersect, lucidity is an option. The boundaries of reality are always on the chopping block when dealing with a particular type of music, but there’s always room for more if a name is able to come around that doesn’t just envision such madness but embody it to a terrifying degree. Metal has never been a genre to shy away from keeping things within the box of our measly plane of existence. We’ve seen plenty try their hand at delivering madness of a truly unique source, yet it’s only on the outer fringes of what metal can be that we are given truly horrific contortions of the psyche. Drofnosura displayed a terrifying understanding of this with their last creation six years ago. Now, with what’s almost certainly their magnum opus, Drofnosura has delved even further and crafted something darker and more sinister, albeit intensely seductive in its writhing terror.

It’s one thing to craft something with a well-defined meaning of terror. It’s another altogether to make something that capitalizes on a primal fear that lurks within every creature in existence and bring it all in such a form that’s horrific to look upon while having such terrible majesty that you’re all but compelled to fall ever deeper, exploring every crevice and understanding every possible morsel that the creation has to offer. In no small form, that’s but a taste of what Drofnosura summoned out of nothingness to bring “Ritual of Split Tongues” to abominable life. From the very beginning, it’s made brutally clear that Drofnosura is not here to ease you into some lulling dreamscape. Rather, dark forces are at work throughout the entirety of “Ritual of Split Tongues”.

A singularly bombastic mix of sludge, black, death, and doom metal with more than a little atmosphere permeating damn near every minute of the experience, Drofnosura is no stranger to the concept of putting the listener through an excruciating experience that asks much out of body and soul. However, to persevere through these layers of metaphysical torment is to find yourself enlightened in madness. As the melodies and riffs peel away into an echoing chasm whose depths only Drofnosura knows, shapes begin to form, and the finer structure of this work comes to light. Ever convulsing and folding onto itself, the six tracks that constitute “Ritual of Split Tongues” are nothing to look down upon lest its morbid tapestry entrench you wholly all the way through to your very soul, tamping you down and ensuring that you never know the warmth of the sun again so long as Drofnosura has anything to say about it. Able to throw down immense dirges for the universe itself while always making time to burrow into your subconscious and wait for the prime moment to burst forth, this band already made itself known to be capable of so much, yet it is through damn near every minute of this mind-breaking experience that expectations have been blown to the wayside.

Gripping and horrifying in equal measure, “Ritual of Split Tongues” is not something you want to miss out on. Breaking through the mold in terrific fashion and truly establishing itself much more as a promising name, Drofnosura accomplishes the rare feat of mutating nightmares into a purely aural form whose presence and weight cannot be denied. Once you find yourself in the midst of all that’s delivered throughout “Ritual of Split Tongues”, why would you ever want to leave its magnificent shadow? Such an imposing monolith is not something we should turn away from, but, rather, bask in for all that it offers even if it leads to the most carnivorous madness that our puny minds could ever hope to be blessed with. To be touched by the power of Drofnosura is to be bestowed a vision the likes of which extremely few others could ever hope to conjure.

“Ritual of Split Tongues” releases on October 24th via Transcending Obscurity Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Ritual of Split Tongues” on Bandcamp here.

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