I'm really picky about black metal, but Darzamat's A Philosopher At the End of the Universe has been the culmination of one of the steeper climbs I've seen a band undertake. Their second album Oniriad is really not very good. That was the era of extreme metal bands experimenting with new flavors in their sound, and their attempts were not among the more successful ones. After that they settled into a melodic/symphonic/gothic black metal sound that they would gradually get better and better at, with '09's Solfernus' Path being pretty solid. Unlike too much black metal, the guitar sound was massive, and Nera's vocals are very unique, not just in black metal, but in metal in general. The orchestration always held them back though, it's hard to do well without a massive budget or exceptional programming talent. After a lull of 11 years, they came back in '20 with a new album, ditching the fauxchestration entirely, and in their case for the better. It left room for more atmospheric guitar lines and some acoustic parts, taking them to another level. It's definitely one of my most-listened to albums of this decade so far.