Hellfire

666th Rating!!! How fitting. It's almost like I planned this or something!
Wow. What an experience. I'm not entirely sure if this will go down as a hot take or not, but in my opinion Hellfire is an absolute improvement upon Cavalcade on all fronts. For starters, I think the vocals are a lot more tolerable here. I don't hate the vocals on Cavalcade like I used to, they're just... off-putting. Luckily, the absolutely insane vocal performances match the unpredictable and chaotic sound of Hellfire brilliantly! One thing I've consistently admired about this group is their ability to keep you on your toes, certain songs ended with me on such an adrenaline fueled high, only to have the following cut be an incredibly stripped back and soft acoustic ballad that builds up again much later in the track. It's just little things like that, y'know?

Also, might I add, the acoustic parts are incredible. Weirdly enough given the odd nature that both this and Cavalcade exist in, they're both able to intersperse these loud, chaotic prog tunes with gentle ballads that take my breath away with such ease that it's absolutely exhilarating to listen to. Too much of a good thing can become tiresome, and black midi know this all too well. There's no doubts in my mind that this is gonna be pretty high up at the end of the year for me, this thing is amazing. It's not my AOTY per se, but it is most certainly a special release, and one that I'm probably gonna be obsessing over for quite a while. Also can't wait to see this 91 user score plummet after everyone wakes up and listens to this tomorrow lmaooo

favorite tracks - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
least favorites - get out