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.