There's no denying the effect that Rhinocervs and Crepesculo Negro have had on underground black metal over the last year or two, with a steady stream of releases representing talented musicians with the singular aim of creating dark and atmospheric music. The explosion in popularity of anything related to either of these two labels can be off-putting to those who (such as myself) who actively try to disregard any hype, but it's almost impossible to ignore the quality of artists such as
Odz Manouk and
Absum (who are not even the top tier when it comes to Rhinocervs releases).
This newish split from the aforementioned bands opens with a track from Odz Manouk, which is arguably his weakest track yet. This isn't really a comment on the track itself, more so on the untouchable quality of the full length and two songs that appear on the split with
Tukaaria. 'The Esophagus' is a discordant and introspective black metal song, generally similar to most of OM's work. The way in which Yagian constructs his guitar lines is immaculate, a talent apparent on all OM material.
Absum also provides one song, and provides an excellent companion piece to 'The Esophagus'. Absum is not talked about anywhere near as much as other BTC bands - this is probably to do with the fact that the project's music is a little wayward of the general black metal style its contemporaries follow, and possible because Absum's music takes a little time to warm up on the listener. 'The Rotting Sea', Absum's contribution to the split, takes a blackened doom approach and infuses it with a menacing atmosphere. The way it builds up to the melody at the end is fantastic, and overall the track begs multiple plays. Rather than keep waffling on, I'll reiterate the fact that I am a huge fan of this split, and it's a clear sign of Rhinocervs continuing to do great things. The record is probably not available anymore, but it's most likely still at reasonable prices on the secondary market.
