FORBIDDEN OMEN is a Melodic Death Metal band formed in Poland in 2016. "Ancestral Rituals" is their debut full-length release, and contains seven tracks. "Into (The Call)" leads off the album. It begins with clean guitar tones and some crackling thunder in the background. The mood is somber but also alluring. "Slavic Blood" begins with a heavy riff and a scream. The formula is pretty straightforward and the riffs fairly simple. There are snipets of melody in the guitars but it isn't accented much.

"Ashen King" is much similar in the way it is delivered. Take away the little bits of melody and you are left with a basic Death Metal blueprint, but it is pretty boring. "Svarog" is a shorter song with at least a little more energy and melody. "Veles" opens with a heavy and powerful riff, and the album is starting to grow on me a bit. Melody in the verses hints that the band is capable of creating more memorable music. "Hail the God of War" begins with some fancy drum work but the same tempo is kept now through five tracks. The riff is again simple and the vocals are starting to annoy me being sung the same way over and over.

"Fractured Sky Ritual" closes the album. Unfortunately, it's more of the same. Clean vocals are obviously not a prerequisite for the genre, but they do offer some diversity in the sound, as do keyboards. Take way these two, and a band has to work very hard to make something memorable. Despite having a great growler, the music here failed to make an impression on me. They need work on making transitions and dynamic passages to help break up one mid-tempo and unilateral song after another. This falls into the forgettable category for me.