El Cuervo

Necro is a fundamentally sound album. It does what all good old school death metal albums do by focusing on razor-sharp leads, lo-fi production, and energetic song-writing.

Although plainly produced by the same band producing a similar sound to other records in their discography, Amidst the Ruins stretches Saor in new and interesting ways.

The Last Will and Testament doesn’t yield any weaknesses. On their fourteenth go-round, Opeth has once more delivered something exemplary in conception, performance, and production.

When I hear a good album, my brain immediately begins identifying its strengths. Forge has the opposite effect, where I immediately begin identifying its deficiencies.

Sunrise remains a firm recommendation for anyone as yet unfamiliar with the band because their idiosyncrasy is alive and well. But for those existing fans it’s harder to recommend this album as it’s not better than anything else they’ve released. It’s worthwhile, but not as worthwhile as everything before.

It's the work of a master craftsman, immaculately composed, performed and arranged into an ornate and beautiful example of human creativity.

Despite its excesses, Solemn works because it’s remarkably balanced. It coalesces its varied inputs into a complex but digestible sound that easily flows between heavy and light, brutal and catchy.

Exul is very good but it isn’t great, simply because it has fewer of those stellar moments.

Warlocks Grim may not be quite as effortlessly raucous and energetic as prior releases, even if it demonstrates more varied songwriting. But there’s a lot to admire, and I will always credit writers leveling up their skillset.

The killer is the lack of standout moments. Heartless was incredibly patchy but contained moments of true excellence, while this is far more consistent but consistently more average.