RH-15

In a discography which is essentially wholly comprised of oddballs, Rhinocervs's 15th release somehow manages to nevertheless stand out as an oddity of its own. This release seems to be yet another attempt to branch out on the part of Yagian and A.: whereas the earlier untitled releases still hint at influences from each of the members' solo projects, everything from RH-14 and onwards seems to be totally out of left field. It's as though, after settling into a pleasant little niche in the black metal scene and basically single-handedly dominating it, they weren't content to simply occupy that niche forever, even though they conceivably could - I could see a full discography comprised of RH-11s and RH-12s, and you wouldn't hear me complaining either. But invariably, it seems our favorite tag team wanted to try something new, and with RH-15, new is certainly what we got.

The fact that Rhinocervs made an ambient tape seems strange at first, but makes more sense upon further consideration. Plenty of mysterious black metal bands churning out a good dozen or so tapes will often chuck a fully ambient one in there somewhere; Paysage d'Hiver are the most prominent example coming to mind. Furthermore, Rhinocervs haven't been disinclined to including ambient preludes or interludes on previous material, so this seems like a natural continuation of that at first. But then you look at the tracklist and see that there are eleven distinct tracks on this release. The songs are super-short, all ranging from one to three minutes, and tend to say what they have to say before scuttling away. I guess that's what reminds me in the end that this was made by two guys who mostly create black metal: there's no penchant or appreciation for minimalism. In lieu of repetition or slow development, the songs simply end once all the ideas have been exhausted. I definitely would've preferred that this release had three or four longer, more fleshed-out tracks as opposed to a bunch of little sound bites; I think it would've made a better case for RH-15 as a cohesive, self-contained album, as I treat all the other Rhinocervs releases.

Because Odz Manouk material seems to usually have some ambient intros or outros going on and Tukaaria's never does, I'm going to take a wager and say that most of this material was composed by Yagian and then expounded upon with A.'s ideas. In terms of atmosphere, it's pretty varied, both in terms of texture and quality, yet feels consistent in mood. The album incorporates synths, bass, and guitars (both distant streams of tremolo on reverbed electric guitars, and a few instances of clean guitar played in a somewhat Middle Eastern fashion), which gives Rhinocervs a lot of different textures to work with. Every song here has some rhythmic element and progresses forward with faint, murky synth pulses or bass twanging, which definitively establishes the album as more "song"-like ambient than "soundscape"-like. With this tempo in place, they set up a an easel and decorate it with sound samples (rattling chains and clanging pipes), calm singing, and shrieking guitars.

There are some generally cool and epic moments that sound like they could almost fit up there with Dead Can Dance or The Angelic Process, or whatever other "big world music" band you want to think of. The third track is a standout to me, as it manages to include all the elements of RH-15 to maximum effect: gloomy bass melody, dissonant strummed guitar, tremolo waves, haunting vocals, and somewhat delirious "Saharan desert" vibe. The music never stoops quite too low in quality, but my predominant thought about this is just how cheesy most of the material is. I think most ambient created by metal musicians, including the previous Odz Manouk-composed interludes and outros, works because of its simplicity and small scope. It's essentially just a small little synth piece created by people who know of electronic music because of Burzum and not because of Tangerine Dream - doesn't reach very high, all is well. But then you have a release like this, with earnest effort placed into it, and it becomes painstakingly clear that the band are trying to write ambient from the perspective of a metal band. Some of the material just doesn't work; listen to the first minute of this (yes, that's a link, click it!) and listen to that "dun dun dun. dun dun dun." rhythm on the bass with the little "BOOP! BOOP! BOOP! BOOP!" synths popping out that sound like a cat in an animated cartoon. Tell me that's not one of the stupidest things you've ever heard. I dare you. There are a few other songs where the bass is given the predominant rhythmic element and generally those are the stupidest. The songs with a lot more going on, or at least some elements of electric guitar, tend to be the best.

There's also a full-on black metal song nestled within the middle of the release, which actually kind of miffs me because it's genuinely really good. A slow and patient drum beat keeps the music in martial order while majestic and shimmering riffs parade atop it. It's unlike anything else in the Rhinocervs catalog (though I guess a comparison could be made to RH-12, if that release had a warm and braggadocious vibe as opposed to a cold and austere one) and I definitely would've loved to hear a release full of material like this. I suppose it's too late to ask for that, what with Rhinocervs seeming to be dead in the water for the foreseeable future.

My last thoughts about this: this is not the kind of music best suited towards the minimalist, no-tracklist, no-inlay approach that Rhinocervs use almost as a brand feature at this point. With the somewhat more abstract nature of black metal, I can appreciate the sense of mystery about a BM release with no name or face attached to it. But ambient is all about aesthetics; it's absolutely imperative that you guide the listener a bit in terms of what imagery you want them to imagine as they listen to your release. Here, with the super-short tracks and the vague sense of progression between them, I'm led to believe that there's a story being told on this album - so why not tell us what it is? It would help to make some sense of the chaos, give us a bit clearer of an idea of what was being attempted, and ensure that people properly interpret the mood and intent of your release. As it stands, RH-15 is the soundtrack to a movie that will never be found. Its individual parts range from okay to pretty great, but its worth is diminished by the fact that it exists in a vacuum. If you made me pick, this is probably the weakest of the Rhinocervs tapes... though still decent, mind you.