Review by Daniel for Tukaaria / Odz Manouk - Tukaaria / Odz Manouk (2011)

A privileged few of you may be aware of The Black Twilight Circle, a mysterious group of black metal producers from California who collaboratively create a consistently underground & lo-fi brand of extreme music that’s intended to maintain & celebrate the primitive nature of the black metal movement. Many of the releases come only on cassette (often with no titles) while live shows provide an indication that many of the bands are made up of the same members. It’s a fascinating & exciting scene to explore & amongst all of that came the Rhinoservs label, a vessel for the musical aspirations of two passionate individuals in Austin Omar Delgadillo (aka A.) & Devon Boutelle (aka Yagian) between 2010 & 2013 & highlighted by this highly regarded split E.P. from Tukaaria (A.) & Odz Manouk (Yagian).

The E.P. was originally released only on cassette in 2011 before being re-released on vinyl by Final Agony Records in 2013 so it seems to have been intentionally kept away from the masses by utilizing inaccessible mediums that are only explored by the artist’s intended audience. I have to say that this approach has worked too because I can’t deny that it gives the E.P. a mystique that it might not have otherwise possessed & the primitive, lo-fi cover art provides further support for that endeavour. The music contained within sounds very much like the artwork would have you believe too so the scene is set beautifully for a transcendent & liberating black metal experience.

The release kicks off with three tracks from A’s Tukaaria project which see him opting for a particularly lo-fi sound with the production changing drastically between the tracks in a similar way to what Darkthrone would do during the mid-1990s. It’s a chaotic sound with sloppy performances & swarming, dissonant tremolo-picked guitars that are a little lacking in distortion at times. I’d hazard to guess that both attributes may be intentional as they only add to the aura around this music to tell you the truth. The most noteworthy point of interest around the Takaaria material however is the way that the bass guitar is positioned in the mix which is quite prominent for a raw black metal release. Its tone is a little poppy & weird too which gives the material a unique character. Yagian’s two Odz Manouk tracks are a bit more traditional & noticeably less chaotic than the Tukaaria stuff, perhaps benefiting from the thicker & more bass heavy production. “The Scavenger” is easily the standout track on the five on offer on this release which goes a long way to explaining why I find myself preferring the Odz Manouk songs over the Tukaaria ones.

This split is no doubt a fascinating release which offers a consistent level of quality throughout but I have to question whether it offers enough class to compete with similar & more senior players in the American black metal scene like Leviathan & Ash Borer. I’ve certainly enjoyed my time with this cassette but are left doubting whether I’m likely to return to it when there’s such a wealth of great music out there to explore & that feeling alone sees my scoring potential being limited. In saying that though, I do think some of our other members may get more out of this release than I do.