One of the forerunners of the currently thriving Portuguese black metal scene, ONIRIK will release its long-awaited fourth album, Casket Dream Veneration, as a split release between ALTARE PRODUCTIONS and IRON BONEHEAD PRODUCTIONS. ONIRIK's first recordings in six years, Casket Dream Veneration represents a rebirth for mainman Gonius Rex. Long gone are the days of unapologetically raw production, sloppy performance, and mostly improvised songwriting. Instead, the characteristically wandering textures are thoroughly composed, dotted with detail and simmering, subtle nuance; joined by Soul Reaper on drums and The Heretic on bass, Gonius Rex leads a confident, compact performance, each player possessed and attuned to vibrations from beyond; and the production itself emits the foul stench of the crypt, but in rich, vivid tones that are as full-bodied as they come, and daresay even more than a bit "professional." Indeed, Casket Dream Veneration is a trawl through the crypt, nameless and ancient, out of time eternal, heaving and breathing a medieval melancholy that gives way to utter madness. It is reverent of ageless black metal tradition, yet not shackled to tired tropes or meaningless reiteration; it makes no concessions to be anything more than a black metal record, but stresses the importance of its content regardless of how it is labelled. Simply, Casket Dream Veneration is every bit of its title, and Onirik is the guide through these catacombs of the mind, soul, and spirit.
