Really, the difference between Absu's debut and this album is astounding. Barathrum VITRIOL was really nothing more than a weak attempt to copy Darkthrone's earlier material with a touch of extra thrash and synth elements. However, The Sun Of Tiphareth saw Absu moving swiftly and confidently into their own unique style, purging the dullness and cheese of the previous album and replacing it with a massive dose of thrash violence and an even bigger dose of epic. In fact, this stands out from the rest of their catalogue mainly due to said epic nature. The album has a sweeping, panoramic quality which was traded in for a more directly savage attack on The Third Storm Of Cythraul and Tara - both excellent in their own right, but still overshadowed by this one.

For once, the production is entirely perfect. The mix is perfectly balanced, everything in it's correct place. Proscriptor's drumming here is generally slower, a pounding backbone replete with plenty of mind-blowing double bass work, while the guitars and bass sound crushingly heavy. The songwriting moves everything along with liquid momentum, throwing in female vocals (both operatic and spoken) and atmospheric synths occasionally - just at the right moments, such as the sudden breakdown in the 11-minute epic opener "Apzu" and the martial interlude in "A Quest Into The 77th Novel".

There's literally no filler here. Even the instrumental interlude "Our Lust For Lunar Plains" acts as a fitting lead-in for the savagery of "The Coming Of War'. The ending title track, meanwhile, is a more straightforward assault, featuring some abusive quasi-drum-solo sections and a massively strangulating chorus. I seriously cannot stress how excellent this disc is - it's replay value is immense, with new sonic qualities revealing themselves on each listen. Absu ist krieg!