black crown initiate: pretty meh on the opener but the rest of the tracks range from solid to pretty good. as an album though i feel like this isn't very cohesive; like they haven't really found their sound and are just jumping around into a lot of different styles. doesn't mean the songs don't work on their own but the album as a whole does feel a little messy & the closer ends a bit abruptly, feels like it should've gone on a bit longer
obscure sphinx: still trying to crack this one honestly, it's very much an album-oriented album rather than individual songs, and there's a ton of great moments of atmosphere as well as some crushing riffs, but it does feel like it blurs together a bit too much. may just need more listens. i do feel the last track could've been a bit shorter too, the first half is good but the second half feels a bit repetitive.
unexpect: i like this quite a bit more than in a flesh aquarium, for sure. less of the stupid clown gimmick & less of the weird sikth-y spoken word stuff and more of a focus on tighter songwriting while honestly feeling like the go a lot more places musically than before. the opener is great, words is great, unfed pendulum is great, the closing suite is great, the rest of the songs are all pretty solid on the whole too, none i dislike. good stuff.