To my knowledge, one of the first releases to have expressed the whole dark side of goa trance. Exploring new, sinister terrain is the main focus here, rather than keeping up with the all well too known melodic aspect of old school.
Flying Rhino Records were known to have always pushed the envelope, staying ahead of the heap, and V/A "Black rhino" is not much different.
Most tracks are stripped of melodic elements, but are rich in psychedelic and dazzling detail. Take the two Slinky Wizard tracks for instance. It's an utterly impressive quantum leap when compared to their early AFR vinyl releases. Both tracks have a harsher, more macabre and progressive touch, dipped in meance, while being undeniably groovy. True milestones within the more opaque realms of goa trance.
The one time collaboration between Blue Planet Corporation and the alredy mentioned Slinky Wizard, Suffocate Bullet, is a fantastic clash between the lighter, more melodic aspect of the french duo with the deviant sounds of Gus Till and George Barker. Superb.
Slide, aka Pete Martin of the UX fame drops a burning hot darkish monster as well, while Twisted Travellers absolutely kill it with Strange Creatures, one of the finest and most striking examples of dark psychedelic goa trance ever.
But not all the tracks impress though. Alienated deliver eleven minutes of meaningless surface noise, random arrangement, and an urge to make any self respecting listener vomit all over the speaker. The Space Tribe track is raw and furious, as are most of his old school tracks, but has dated poorly. Compared to these other stormers here, it sounds like kids play today, not as sophisticated or time enduring as the rest. And Darshan, what to say? While far from bad, Black Magic sounds like any other track they've ever recorded. The usual problem this duo was often confronted with is that it became pretty clear to fans that by hearing one of their tracks from the '95-'97 era, you've heard them all.
Bottom line is that a Flying Rhino Records compilation from 1997 just cannot be bad. Psy trance addicts should find their money's worth here no matter what. Lovers of the dark side, who are tired of the overly harmonic, fluffy and uplifting goa trance sound will rejoice immediately upon the first listen, as will anybody who favors top of the line electronic music, which is not afraid to break boundries and venture where most dare not to peek.