Review by Benjamin on November 19, 2021.

The Sun Of Tiphareth is Absu’s second album, released in 1995, and is very much a product of its time. With a slightly thin production featuring buzzing treble-heavy guitars and clattering drums, it’s a throwback to the kind of 90s black metal that Osmose absolutely flooded the market with at a time when relatively limited competition emanated from mainstream labels yet to understand the commercial potential of the new underground forms. The only surprise is that Absu hail from Texas, with a sound that leans heavily on European influences. Although the sound itself is not especially startling, the fact that is was generated by an American band in the mid-90s certainly was.

‘Apzu’ kicks things off in fine style, showcasing the various elements of the Absu sound, juxtaposing thrashing black metal, with Celtic melodies and clean female vocals. The interesting rhythmic interplay between the guitars and drums, a feature of Absu’s sound throughout their discography, elevates the composition above many of their more mediocre peers, and demonstrates the value of boasting Proscriptor McGovern as not just their drummer,but unusually, their vocalist and key songwriter. McGovern once reportedly came close to replacing Paul Bostaph in Slayer, but here in his own band, he gives a tour de force performance behind the kit, and indeed the mic.

The rest of the record, aside from a short atmospheric keyboard interlude, is an unrelenting barrage of black / death metal. At times Absu call to mind Celtic Frost with the barreling arrogant riffing of the monstrous album highlight ‘Feis Mor Tir Na N’Og’, and at others early Bathory if only they had incorporated a human drum machine, such as on ‘Cyntefyn’s Fountain’.

As may be apparent from the song and album titles, Absu have a fairly unusual thematic and lyrical approach. While esoteric theological and occult themes and metal are frequently comfortable bedfellows, Absu choose to combine the predominant Celticisms with Crowleian Satanism and Sumerian mythology in a somewhat bewildering combination. Although these concepts may not hang together as a coherent belief system, it is difficult not to admire the completeness of Absu’s bizarre vision and depth of their imagined worldview, and it undoubtedly adds a layer of intrigue to an already compelling proposition. Not unlike Melechesh (probably the nearest musical comparison, and a band that McGovern briefly joined), and even Nile, Absu often bring the influences to bear musically, which adds a welcome dimension to music that occasionally threatens to be little more than a collection of riffs and tempo changes.

If there is a criticism to be levelled at what is a frequently enjoyable album, it is the fact that the songwriting ultimately fails to match the obvious ambition of musicians that have the skill to execute almost anything they compose. The Sun Of Tiphareth is labyrinthine in scope, but not as sophisticated as one imagines Absu thought it could be. Transitions between riffs are generally perfunctory, and not infrequently, the band pile riffs atop one another while failing to develop some of the ideas with the most significant potential – the brilliant duelling riff that occupies the first section of the closing title track being the foremost example. It is, however, never less than an intriguing early milestone in the developing career of a superb band who would truly hit their stride in the albums to follow.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Luka on March 29, 2002.

After three demos and a death metal debut, the "Absu sound" is still much in the early stages of development, but they've clearly taken a step forward and moved more towards a modern Nordic black metal sound, starting to experiment more and more with complex song structures and elaborate lyric themes dealing with old mythology from different parts of the world. The production suggests the album was done on a relatively small budget but the ambition and potential of the three Texans shines strong.

While an album like this will scarcely excite metal fans today, the concept of synths, midieval instruments, and 8-minute epics was fresh in 1995. Soon after this, every second black metal was doing it and Absu lost ground. Their geographical location in the southern sands of Texas didn't help either, but they pushed on and built a name for themselves. "The Sun of Tiphareth" was an essential building block in early in their journey.

The synths are not nearly as dominant as in, say, Emperor, but rather serve as the finishing atmospheric touch over the guitars. Most of the riffs come across very strong and impressive even with the poor production that muddies and distorts the guitars. Bass is also considerably more emphasized than traditional black metal, but what I am most impressed with is Absu's ability to write 7-minute songs and longer that don't get boring! I can think of a dozen bands that ought to take this lesson from them. Each new riff compliments and builds upon the one before it and takes the song one step further in the right direction. The problem is that often the riffs themselves don't rise much higher in complexity or creativity than ordinary black metal guitarwork, and thus the very core of the songs is weak.

I'm tempted to call this just another generic black metal album but Absu definitely stand an inch taller than the crowd. One notable advantage is there is virtually no blast beats, and the drummer is actually the central member of the band. The songs show true potential and talent but only need a little cleaning up and perhaps a more advanced studio to make them great. They’ve got their themes and lyrics perfected now the music has to follow. The vocals turn me off too.

Bottom Line: A worthy black metal album with enough innovation and experimentation to spark some genuine interest in the metal world. Just needs a bit of improvement.

Originality: 8
Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 6
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.2 out of 10