brand new: yeah this is pretty solid but i'm already kind of getting tired of it. it feels a lot less emotionally deep that the devil and god and mostly focuses just on really memorable hooks. a few dud tracks too, could never be heaven and desert especially. 451 is probably the best track just for being both very different for the band and yet really damn good and memorable. sucks that jesse lacey is a sexual predator though
caligula's horse: this is their worst album, easily. for one, the talky track is awful, i started skipping it only a few listens in. i hate that kind of thing every time. mostly it just feels like they wanted to make graves (which is pretty good) but didn't have a lot else to offer; the two ballads both feel like filler tunes, as do tracks 3 and 7 (the latter is just a straight-faced ripoff of the sound of the tide's sound except without the emotional depth). but i'll give credit, tracks 2 and 5 are both pretty good & tracks 1 and 9 are solid too. it's still not awful by any means, way better than the last few DT records, but that's not saying much
der weg einer freiheit: man, these songs have so goddamn much personality without ever straying too far from the album's core sound. german metal bands just tore it the hell up this year and this is easily in my top 5 releases of the year. tons of raw emotion, some really savage and sinister passages too, and yet a great ear for melody throughout. wish all black metal could maintain this level of diversity and intesnity