ONIRICOUS - Ritos diabólicos (EQUINOX - LP 2015)
This is another release from
Equinox, which I’ve received and it’s a real feast for my ears and something
special as I got to know another killer Spanish death metal crew. They call
this monster Oniricous and “Ritos diabólicos” is only a debut recording from
them. But debut or not, it sounds really damn solid and I must say that this is
another great band from Spain, after Morbid Flesh, Graveyard, Ataraxy, Necroven
or Onirophagus (to name just few; there are more!). There’s a great scene in
this country and surely Oniricous is a band worthy of your support. “Ritos
diabólicos” was released on CD by Razorback, but lately Equinox unleashed a
vinyl version, which looks great. I like that white colouring, as it’s so
different to the usual colours of the death metal artworks / layouts. But the
music is most important and here it doesn’t leave any doubts as for the quality
this band’s music.
It’s great death metal.
Period. It’s not overly brutal, it’s not super technical, it’s also not fast or
utterly obscure, or whatever. No, it’s just solid, traditional death metal,
played in the classic vein, which I would compare maybe to bands like
Krabathor, Death (old of corpse!), Master, Massacre, Grave, etc. And “Atrapado
en un mundo onírico” is even close to some old melodic death acts from Sweden
like At the Gates! These melodic accents appear also in some other tracks, with
quite many guitar leads, which appear in almost every song (which is not so
common anymore, I suppose), but the main focus on “Ritos diabólicos” has been
putted on chunky, memorable, quite groovy death metal riffs and vicious, almost
demonic vocals. Maybe I call them demonic, because the lyrics are all Spanish
and so this language and accent give slightly different, a lot more vicious,
feeling to the growling and so the vocals sound not so typical and common like
in any other death metal band. More so, I must say that I like that heavy, dark
production of “Ritos diabólicos”, which reminds me such classic LPs like
“Consuming Impulse”. But that’s not surprise, really, if you find out that the
album was recorded at Moontower Studios (Graveyard, Morbid Flesh, etc) and Dan
Swano did the mastering.
Anyway, I am glad to find out
that Oniricous is more original band than the majority of the new old school
death metal acts. They have more individual style and sound and the whole album
is very complete for that matter. It is obvious these guys know which way they
want to go and it all works great here. There are plenty of killer songs and
even if it’s death metal with no fireworks (if you know what I mean), I still
enjoyed it a lot, with such pieces as “El Amuleto”, “Astrofobos”, “Atrapado en
un mundo onírico” or “El terror supremo”. I also damn love the ending part of “El
fuego verde”, which probably is the best theme here, with those keyboards and
church bells it instantly takes an eerie, horror aura to the maximum. Generally
all the songs have very similar, high quality and I suppose you would have to
be really picky and tedious to find anything wrong on “Ritos diabólicos”. I
couldn’t, it’s damn great record, so I am just happy to have a copy in my
collection! Hails Equinox for sending me one!
Standout tracks: “El Amuleto”,
“Astrofobos”, “Atrapado en un mundo onírico”, “El terror supremo”
Final rate: 75/100
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