Onirophagus‘  musical refinement expresses its musical form by unfolding a dramatic requiem in the opening song “Hollow Valley”. The dense guitar riffs and immense drumming, exude feelings of misery and despair as the doomy riffs envelop the growls.

The atmosphere in the following song “Landsickness” is dark and miserable, the guitar work is notable for the old-school flair that enhances the aura as the slow pace of the drums expands into lumbering tempos, leaving the guitar harmonies conjoined in the sepulchral growls.

Onirophagus manages to impress me with the guitar variations and the elegant melodies, even at times the tone of the drums becomes crushingly heavy and this somehow sets a sinister and somber mood. “The Tome” for example is one of the slowest tracks in the album and begins with woeful guitar melodies hovering on top of the wailing growls and deep anguished shouts echo from the cavernous depths.

The prominent guitar melodies dramatically open the track while the drums maintain the slow pace and with a more intense tempo midway through the song, but the growls sometimes lack the effective tone of crushing death doom.

The album cover itself implies the cavernous style of death doom metal, Onirophagus skillfully injects these tempo alterations and dynamics to conjure the needed atmosphere, leaving the sad full rhythm at the core of the dismal mood that the riffs emanate. There’s no shortage of melodies or rhythm, as the sextet cements a miserable aura throughout the album.

“Revelations from the Void” makes you wander through the desolate landscapes, the riffing prowess and the composition creep in the gloom of the dreary music, and the five tracks on the album shift between the atmospheric passages and death-doom laden riffs.

Despite the slow-burning moments, the guitar harmonies enrich the doomy flair of the music in the song “Black Brew”. Which is laden with dreary doom passages, but I would say that the catchy part in this epic song is the repetitive guitar melodies that enhance the music with a feeling of despair.

However, Onirophagus may not sound as cavernous as other death doom metal bands like Solothus, Krypts, and Hooded Menace. The Catalonian quartet managed to curate a convincing combination of melancholy and punishing riffage.

From the onset of the wretched music the album offers a morbid form of death doom metal, although clocking at just forty-six minutes there is so much to digest here from the unhinged hammering of the drums or the sad violin work that begins to echo like psalms of doom in the final epic song “Stargazing Into the Void” which focuses in imbuing a bleak and dismal aura. The crushing tempo of the drums builds into straight-up doom metal as the music morphs into utter bleakness.

The crestfallen vocals sound like a dirge of lamentation, and the violin section enhances the song. The crushing pace continues with the guitars lurching forth, at times the clean vocals are utilized to add a dramatic feel to the music, but I find them perfect for this kind of music. The tempo changes in this song are unhinged, but it offers some uplifting melodies and plenty of death metal assault.

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