Oniricous - Ritos diabólicos

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