Oniricous – La Maladición

Release Date: 31/10/2019
Label: BlackSeed Productions

I am going to start this off by saying that Oniricous is a death metal band dedicated to the old school/Swedish tradition. This means that what awaits you in this little EP, the band’s third release to date, is chunky, groovy and at times somewhat thrash-adjacent riffs; d-beats with accompanying cymbal rides; bass that toes the line; throaty, gruff death growls talking about something that I can’t understand since I don’t speak Spanish (I mean, I think I can somewhat guess…)

Not that it makes much of a difference, mind, because we are here for riffs, aren’t we? And La Maladicion, brief as it may be has that in spades. Start to finish (apart from two moments I will mention later) it’s Entombedcore style catchy riffs that suck you into songs and make sure you stay there. Take the opening of La Cabra Negra for instance – the angular, jumpy, rockin’ riff is what hooks you to the song and ensures your undivided attention.

The solos are nothing to scoff at, either. To help you understand, I’ll say this: Exhumando el Horror has two solos played back to back and the second one not only continues the first, it also manages to top it. This is definitely a strength of Oniricous – they have got “the groove” down. Songs don’t just flow, they flow well enough to carry you with them. Even if the the music in general isn’t original (which, it really isn’t) La Maladición manages make you not care. If you have read any of my previous reviews, you know I think that enough skill and passion behind something completely unoriginal can still command respect.

All that’s well and good, but by Satan, why on Earth does this EP have an ambient intro and an ambient outro? Ambient intros are, more often than not, completely pointless to begin with, but having such a segment at the beginning and end of an EP makes no sense whatsoever. So to Oniricous: guys, you wasted three minutes on a tired (and here, completely unwarranted) cliché that you could have spent dazzling me with another great song. Think on that.

Other than that – if you love death metal, get on La Maladición now, because you will not be disappointed. Hell, you might even want to check out Oniricous’s modest back catalog. Me, I would recommend this. It’s a fun, skillfully executed and brief romp. What more do you even want?

Line-Up:
Chuster – lead guitars, vocals
Mazo – lead guitars
Al Wars – rhythm guitars
Tony – bass
Tillo – drums

01. Intro
02. Exhumando el horror
03. El extraño
04. La cabra negra
05. La maladición
06. Outro

Oniricous on Facebook
La Maladición on BlackSeed Productions’ Bandcamp